Foreign Affairs
by GeorgiaKittyxo
Summary: Elizabeth Walters is the new girl at school, though she wishes she wasn't. She loved her old school in Paris more than anything. Her arrival at Domino High unsettles the place and she struggles to make friends with anyone - including Yugi and the gang. But when their quest for a very old and powerful duel monsters card leads back to her, can they count on her help?
1. The Deafening Silence

**AN: Okay so this is my first ever fanfic and this is just a little prologue I had in my head for a few days. I need to figure out some more of the plot and where I want this story to lead. Any input and comments are greatly appreciated as my little experience can tell you.**

* * *

_How can silence, an entity which is entirely nothing, suffocate you until you fear you may never breathe again? How can it wrap around you and squeeze so tightly you swear you can feel it tugging at your flesh?_

_One small girl pondered these thoughts with her head thrust inside a book. She couldn't read well, the words were just squiggles on the page to her, but she took comfort in gazing at the pictures and imagining she could hear the sounds they made. The cat purring in front of the fireplace, the dog growling from its' kennel. Her mind wasn't so silent with these sounds she pretended to hear. But always, always, the sounds of the real world lapped at her ears._

_Glancing up she saw the other children in her class running around gleefully and shouting to one another. She could just hear the yells, though they sounded like hushed talking to her. One child ran past her, the billowing of her blonde hair the only indicator she had, and she turned panicked in his direction. He looked strangely at her and said something. She saw his lips move too quick to follow but no words reacher her, only a gentle hissing to tell her he was speaking. She pressed her lips together in frustration and threw her head back into her book, her breaths rapid._

_Is this what it would always be like? To be tortured with the shushes of syllables but always unable to hear them? She supposed it would be. It was like living underwater, staring at the world through a wall of water. Her ears were too full to hear any words, the water pushing in on her from all sides. And every breath she took she feared would be her last as she drifted underneath the water, close to the surface but too far away to break it…_

* * *

She sat upright with a gasp, the sheets desperately trying to drag her back down. She struggled with them momentarily before freeing herself, the sheets falling with a soft swoosh to the floor. The sound was lost on the girl.

She quickly turned to the side and began clawing at her bedside table. Her hands grasped something and she held on tightly, pushing the thing towards her ear with so much force it hurt. After a little fiddling, her erratic heartbeat and gasping breaths could be heard, as well as the music from her phone that was playing quite loudly for this time of night.

She fell back down onto her bed with a sigh, content to know she could hear the quiet noise that escaped her lips. Her hair was sticking to her forehead and the back of her neck, sweat forming the perfect bond between hair and skin. She knew she would need a shower before she started her first day at Domino High the next day, or rather, later into this day. The late time was not lost on her, but her heart ceased to stop its maddening beating.

_Calm down, Elizabeth._ She told herself sternly, surprised when she used her first name. She hated it and much prefered any other nickname._ It's not like that any more, you can hear now._ Her hand fluttered up to touch her left ear which her hearing aid resided behind, a clear thin wire snaking up and around her ear to sit inside her ear canal. It was almost invisible… almost. She was glad once again for her curly frizzy hair that shielded the worlds view from it.

At her old school it was just accepted that she was partially deaf and no one had ever made a big deal out of it. People asked her questions and asked to see her hearing aid, but there was never any judgement, never any weird stares. Her stomach twisted at the thought of never being back there. Her despair over her situation turned to anger as she thought of her mother, the reason for being stuck here in Japan in the first place.

_Stupid woman,_ Elizabeth thought bitterly, a scowl on her lips._ She was all but famous in Paris, people threw money at her to design buildings for them._ As Elizabeth thought it over she realised she had someone else to curse as well.

_Stupid Seto Kaiba._ _Why did he ever have to commission my mum to design the hotels at his stupid theme park anyway? Couldn't he have found someone else, anyone else? Can't I be happy for once in my life?_

With a start Elizabeth realised she was close to tears. She pawed furiously at her eyes. She would not cry for them, no way. A tear will never be shed again over her mother. She had done enough crying as a child to last a lifetime.


	2. An Unsettling Arrival

**AN: I'm pretty sure I've got the timings wrong here, which I apologise for, but Duelist Kingdom being over with and Battle City having not have happened yet works well with my story. Also, I decided to use the English names opposed to the Japanese ones, simply because I watched the anime and it's a lot easier for me. **

**Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read.**

* * *

Yugi stifled a yawn with his hand as he peered into his locker. It was the first day back at school for the start of a new year and his body complained at being up so early once again. The time since he and the gang had arrived back from Duelist Kingdom had flown by quickly and he was surprised to be back in school again.

But none was more surprised than Joey Wheeler, whose forehead now currently lent against the locker next to Yugi's. His eyes were closed and he seemed asleep. Yugi nudged his arm.

"Wake up, Joey." He commanded, shaking the boys arm a little more. Joey groaned before turning his head, turning pleading eyes on Yugi.

"Five more minutes, please." He whined. Yugi shook his head with a small grin.

"You should have gone to bed earlier." A voice commented. Both Yugi and Joey turned in the direction of the sound to see Téa Gardner waltzing towards them, her dark brown hair bouncing with each step.

"Yeah, yeah." Joey answered before yawning quite loudly. Téa rolled her blue eyes and Yugi struggled to hide his smirk.

"It's reasonable advice." Téa suddenly snapped. Any hint of tiredness flew out of the boys eyes as they stared in shock at their friend. They exchanged glances.

"Téa," Yugi hesitantly began. "Are you okay?" The girl sighed and fiddled with the sleeve of her pink blazer.

"I'm fine, it's just that new girl." She replied. Joey frowned.

"What new girl?" He inquired.

"I don't know, she's just new." Téa answered with a bite. "She's come here from France or something." Now Yugi frowned in confusion. His friend Téa was usually so friendly and kind towards people, even strangers - yet she had a look of distaste on her face as she spoke about the girl. It made Yugi wonder what the new girl had done to upset Téa.

"Okay… so what about her?" He asked curiously.

"Well I was only warning her about her piercings." Téa explained.

"Piercings?" Questioned Yugi.

"Yeah, she has an eyebrow one and a nose one." Téa clarified. "I was only saying to her that they were against school rules and that she should take them out so she wouldn't get into trouble. And then she just said _No thanks_ and walked away from me!".

"That doesn't sound too bad." Joey pointed out. Téa gave him a sharp look.

"She was very rude, I was only trying to be helpful." She sniffed. Yugi gave his friend a small smile.

"It's her first day, maybe she's just nervous." He offered. Téa thought this over for a second and gave a small nod of agreement.

"You're probably right, Yugi." She replied with a smile of her own.

"Hey guys!"

All three turned in unison towards to the direction of the yell to see their other friend Tristan running over to them.

"I thought you would be late." Joey grinned at him. Téa checked her watch.

"He almost was." She commented. As if on cue the bell signalling the beginning of lessons rang out. They all made their way towards their first lesson, all four of them starting with maths that day. Upon arriving at the classroom and entering, they were all drawn towards the same thing.

"Hey, Téa." Joey said quietly. "Is that the new girl you were talking about?" He pointed over the far corner where a girl their age sat at her desk staring out of the window, her chin propped up in her hand as her elbow lent against the table. Her blonde hair was a mass of frizzy curls, spilling over her shoulders. With the standard pink blazer and blue skirt girls uniform she also wore black lacy tights in a floral design and heavy black boots on her feet.

"Yeah, that's her." Téa replied, answering Joey's question. Her tone was less hostile than it had been before.

"Do you know her name?" Tristan asked. Before Téa could even answer, Joey butt in.

"Why, are you thinking of flirting with her already?" He joked. Tristan threw him a scowl. During their little argument Yugi debated whether or not he should go over and introduce himself when the teacher appeared behind them and all of them filed to their seats.

"Oh man, look who's here." Joey suddenly said, his tone sounding woeful. Yugi glanced up curiously and followed his line of sight, only mildly surprised to see Seto Kaiba sat at a desk a little away from them.

"I guess this is one of the days he's in school." Yugi mused.

"But why today?" Joey complained. "As if the first day back at school wasn't bad enough."

"Just try to stay out of his way." Yugi pleaded, worried yet another fight would happen between Kaiba and Joey.

_Don't worry so much, Yugi_, the Pharoh's voice sounded in his head and the boy smiled to himself.

_I'll try not to,_ he promised.

* * *

Elizabeth was bored. Very, very bored. They were covering a topic she had already done the previous year at her old school. With the money people paid for their children to attend that school she wouldn't be surprised if she found herself five years ahead of her peers. The teaching at St. Isabelle's was excellent.

To pass the time between questions, she doodled in the margins of her book. Nothing spectacular, just little swirls and chequered squares. _And my mother says I'm not creative,_ she thought to herself bitterly. _And it's all his fault._ She glared at the back of the head in front of her, where none other than Seto Kaiba, established life ruiner himself, sat quietly writing away. She glared harder hoping he would somehow know how much hate for him she harboured, but she knew it was fruitless. She would just have to give him a death stare later, when he could actually see her face.

Elizabeth went back to her doodling, but her mind was too preoccupied. Her thoughts swirled much like the ones she had drawn on her page. Why her mother of all people? Of all the architects out there, why Helen Alice Walters? Sure, her mother had designed some extraordinary buildings that she hated to admit even took her breath away. But a hotel? It seemed very unlike her mother to accept. Elizabeth thought her mother only took on the most flamboyant and stunning work she could find. Then again, a hefty pay may have been the key factor in the situation. This made her even angrier as she thought about it.

Luckily, the bell rang out, shattering any thoughts she held at that moment. Elizabeth gathered her things and placed them back in her bag. It could have only taken a matter of seconds, but when she looked back up Seto Kaiba had disappeared from sight and any hopes she had of giving him a hard stare as she walked past fluttered from her mind. _There's always a next time,_ she thought slyly to herself as she walked out of class with a smirk on her face. Her face soon turned into a mask of fury though as someone ran past her and knocked her quite roughly. Her black satchel fell off her shoulder and she just managed to catch it in the crook of her arm before it fell to the floor.

"Watch where you're going." The guy who ran into her mocked. All of his friends laughed. Elizabeth straightened back up, her eyes slits and her lips twisted into a bitter scowl.

"You're the idiot who ran into me." She retorted. The guys laughter stopped and he gave Elizabeth a cold look.

"You should apologise for that. Girls like you shouldn't be so rude to men like me." The boy said in a serious tone. Elizabeth scoffed.

"Make me." She challenged, quirking the eyebrow on which her piercing was on. The metal flashed in the light.

"I think I just will." The guy threatened before reaching for her arm.


	3. An Almost Fight and Lunch with Seto

**AN: Firstly I'd like to say thank you to those of you who have left reviews, knowing my work is being read and enjoyed is a very motivating haha.**

**And secondly I want to apologise for not updating sooner. I've been really busy lately, especially with exam season approaching, and I've been figuring out the plot as well. I'm going to aim to try and update weekly but I'm not sure if I'll make that target once exams get closer and stuff.**

**Anyway, to make up for it have a really long chapter haha.**

* * *

"How many lessons are left today, Yug?" Joey questioned as he dragged himself up off his desk and followed his friend out of the classroom.

"Four more." Yugi answered, daunted himself at the prospect.

"Ugh, I can't do it." Joey whined, running a hand down his face. "Maths was bad enough, I can't even remember what I wrote down." Yugi felt slightly guilty as he silently agreed. Maths had passed in a blur, albeit a very slow blur, and Yugi couldnt remember fully what topic they had covered. Caught up in his thoughts, it took Yugi a moment to realise a crowd had gathered in the hallway.

"Huh, what's happening?" A slightly more awake Joey asked. Yugi craned his neck to try and get a glimpse of what the commotion was.

"I have no idea." He answered. Curious to find out what was happening, they both slowly made their way forward, edging through the gaps between people. Joey spotted Téa and Tristan and both him and Yugi made their way towards them.

"What's going on?" Joey asked, curious but also slightly annoyed that he might be late for his next class. The last thing he needed was detention on the first day. His slight anger diffused when he spotted a very irritated Seto Kaiba attempting to navigate his way around people.

"It's the new girl and Akihiro, I think they're in an argument." Tristan replied, eyes glued to the pair of people he spoke of. Téa pursed her lips as she studied them. Yugi could see the worry on Téa's face and he could understand why it was there. Akihiro was a bully, one who loved to mock people and put them down. Though he mostly used words he was also known to have a few fights now and then, and right now it looked like he was having a stand off with the new girl. Yugi wondered anxiously what was going to happen.

* * *

Seto seethed inside as he attempted to push past the people mingling around in the corridor. They were all idiots to him who were mesmerised by the simplest of things. Didn't they have classes to get to, much like he did? Seto attempted once more to get past the crowd of people, but only ended up closer to the spectacle everyone seemed so enthralled by.

He was confused momentarily when he recognised some thug scowling down on a girl he had never seen before. She stood at an angle to him, and with her large frizzy hair, he couldn't make out much of her face. She too seemed equally as angry as the boy standing over her. They exchanged a few words, and Seto just made out over the buzz of the crowd the last ones the girl spoke - "Make me" - before the boy lunged at her and grabbed her forearm.

* * *

The boys grip was tight, Elizabeth would give him that. His fingers dug into her flesh hard enough the hurt. He attempted to drag her towards him, and seeing as he was already pulling in that direction, all it took was a shove from Elizabeth to send him flying backwards. He fell over his feet and landed with a thud on the floor.

It was unexpected to see that much strength from a seemingly skinny girl like Elizabeth, but years of swim practise and hockey training at her old boarding school in France had developed muscles underneath her curvy figure. The crowd of people seemed shocked and muttered amongst themselves. The boy lay sprawled on the floor, his brown hair messed up from his fall. He glared at the girl before him and jumped to his feet.

It looked like he might have attacked her again, but something behind Elizabeth caught his attention. The girl looked over her shoulder to see a teacher stood a little way off, a confused look on his face as he tried to work out why people had gathered in the hallway.

"Leave it, Akihiro." One of the guys friends said. "Get her another time." Akihiro seemed to think this over before nodding to his friend. He turned back to Elizabeth with a hard look on his face.

"Don't think this is over." He warned before walking away. With that the crowd dispersed as quickly as it had formed, leaving Elizabeth stood there on her own.

* * *

"Did you see the way she knocked him over?!" Exclaimed Tristan as he, Yugi, Joey and Téa finally made their way to the next lesson.

"Nevermind that, did you see Akihiro's face?" Joey questioned himself before he and Tristan burst into laughter. Téa shook her head at her friends antics.

"She could have been hurt." She protested.

"Hey, you've suddenly come around from this morning." Joey pointed out. "You were complaining about the new girl this morning and now suddenly you're worried about her."

"I don't think that's very fair Joey." Yugi piped up. "I was worried as well. Akihiro is a bully."

"I know, I know." Joey resigned with a sigh. "She might have been hurt… but she threw Akihiro to the floor, he'll never live that down!" He and Tristan were suddenly laughing again.

"It's true she wasn't hurt." Yugi said quietly to Téa.

"I know." Téa answered. She paused for a moment. "And Akihiro's face was pretty funny."

Both Yugi and Téa exchanged a smile as all four of them entered the classroom.

"I wonder what she's doing now." Yugi mused to himself.

* * *

The wind played with her hair as Elizabeth stood on the roof of school, scanning the horizon around her. She brushed stray strands out of her face as she stared at rooftops of buildings. In the distance she could just make out the Kaiba Corporation building, a large glass tower twinkling in the sunlight. Her jaw clenched as she stared the building down, but after a few moments she sighed heavily and turned away to lean against the chain link fence.

Fishing around in her pocket she produced a cigarette and lighter and made little time in beginning to smoke it. As the smoke swirled in the air around her she felt her nerves, which had been on edge from her almost fight, begin to calm down and relax. She knew she was supposed to be in geography right now, but maths had been too easy for her so Elizabeth assumed this lesson would be the same as well. And even if she did miss anything, it was only geography. Not exactly important in her eyes. The length of the cigarette slowly began to dwindle, until Elizabeth had to light another from the glowing butt of her last.

In the time that she should have been in lesson, Elizabeth had finished off the three cigarettes left in her packet and had nibbled at an apple she had brought. Her appetite was off though.

It was only when the bell signalling the start of lunch sounded that Elizabeth thought she'd better get off the roof. She didn't want to risk running into anyone up here and much preferred the idea of a solitary table to herself in the canteen. By the time Elizabeth had reached the bottom floor of the building again most people had already gotten themselves a place in the queue for food or a table to sit at with friends. Elizabeth navigated the empty corridors alone, following the ever increasing sound of people talking, laughing and joking to one another. She entered through the canteen doors, a lone figure glancing around hopefully for a lone table. No luck though, most of the tables were crowded with people - well, except one. The one at which no one else bar Seto Kaiba sat.

Elizabeth groaned internally. She still disliked Seto for hiring her mother, but after some thinking up on the roof earlier, Elizabeth realised she couldn't blame him entirely for her move to Japan. He didn't know what effect this would have on her. With a thought that _maybe it won't be so bad,_ Elizabeth made her way over to him.

She approached the table slowly, giving him time to look up from his laptop. He didnt. He remained utterly transfixed by it. Elizabeth took a calming breath before putting on a smile.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked before taking hold of a chair and sitting down in it anyway. This got Seto Kaiba's attention. He glanced up from where he had been clicking and typing away on his laptop, an annoyed expression mingled with a little confusion showing on his face.

"I do, actually." He responded before turning back to his work. He waited for the strange girl with the even stranger piercings on her face to get up and leave. She didnt.

"That's just too bad." Elizabeth replied matter of factly. "Because there's nowhere else for me to sit." Seto looked around him. The tables were crowded, but there was still places at most of them for her to take.

"How?" He questioned. She was really starting to annoy him now. He had received dozens of emails whilst he was in lessons, all talking about some mess the accountancy team had pulled off. He wondered how long it would take him to find a new team to replace the old incompetent one.

"Well," Elizabeth started, pulling Seto from his thoughts. "First of all there's that group." She pointed over to the far corner of the room where a bunch of girls sat around a magazine, laughing amongst themselves. Seto concentrated on them. They looked like normal girly girl types to him. In fact, he was sure one of the brunettes at the table had tried to flirt with him the previous year by talking in a stupid voice and blinking at him way too many times.

"What about them?" Seto asked when he couldn't figure it out. His anger grew slightly, both from the girl sat before him and his inability to work out what she was talking about.

"They talked to me a little this morning, but I slipped into French halfway through the conversation and didn't even realise it. They're avoiding me like I have the plague now." Elizabeth explained, flashing a grin at Seto. He couldn't have been sure but he thought he saw a glimpse of sadness pass her face, though it disappeared too quickly for him to be certain.

"And that group there called me a freak." Elizabeth continued, pointing to a table with a mixture of boys and girls sat at it. "And that one there said they didn't like my shoes, and that girl there said I needed to learn how to do my make up properly." And so it continued, until she'd pointed to every table but one.

"What about that table?" Seto asked, nodding his head towards where Yugi and his friends. Elizabeth frowned as she studied them.

"I think I pissed off the girl this morning." She answered after a moment. Seto smirked as he turned his attention back to his work. He didn't know whether to be surprised or impressed that this one girl had alienated an entire school against her, and all before lunch. Still, she looked like a type who could do that. Seto kept glancing up from his laptop to study her. She seemed to be intrigued by her fingernails for the time being, so Seto was quite sure he wouldn't be spotted by her.

Her long curly hair hung well past her shoulders, and it would be been a great hairstyle if not for a certain degree of frizziness that gave the girl the impression she had been playing with electricity. It suited her though, in a weird sort of way. She had quite large eyes, a deep blue colour that seemed to fizz with energy. And then there was the flash of metal in her eyebrow and the twinkle of a diamond on the left side of her slim nose. When she spoke Seto was sure he had seen a spark of light as well… a tongue piercing perhaps? Seto was intrigued more than he knew he should have been, but beneath the strange exterior of the girl sitting before him was something familiar as well. Seto was sure he had seen the shape of her face before, the cheekbones that just jutted at the surface. The pale pink lips were familiar as well. With a start Seto realised where he had seen them before - on the face of the architect from Paris he had hired over the summer. Helen Alice Walters.

Of course, how had be not figured it out earlier? He seemed to vaguely remember Helen mentioning having a daughter as well. Seto was shocked that the girl sitting across from him was Helen's daughter. They seemed polar opposites. Helen was proper and made sure not a single thing was out of place in her attire. This girl seemed like the more outrageous something seemed the more she wanted to wear it.

As Seto was pondering this he caught scent of something hanging in the air between them. He inhaled deeply, wondering what it was. Smoke. He stared accusingly at Elizabeth.

"Have you been smoking?" He questioned harshly. Elizabeth looked up from where she had been trailing her fingers over the table top.

"Yeah. So?" She asked back. Seto wrinkled his nose.

"You smell of smoke." He told her.

"It's a bad habit." Elizabeth replied with a carefree smile.

"More like a disgusting habit that will kill you." Seto informed her. Elizabeth laughed and Seto was surprised once more.

"You sound just like my mother." She joked. Seto's serious expression heavily contrasted her amused one.

"Then maybe you should listen to her." Seto pointed out. Suddenly the amusement on Elizabeth's face disappeared to replaced by a look more somber than even Seto's one.

"I would if I could." She muttered, more to herself than Seto.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He questioned, utterly perplexed by this girl.

"Nothing." She replied quietly, brushing her blazer with one hand.

She raised her hand and began to play with her hair. Seto caught a glimpse of something beneath the mass of hair before Elizabeth suddenly dropped her hand and stood up. She stared down at Seto, gazing at his face and drinking it in. _He's cute_, she said to herself before she could control the thought.

"I'd better be going, I already skipped my last class."

And with that she turned and left. Seto watched her go for a few seconds before shaking his head and turning back to his laptop. He had idiots he needed to attend to.


	4. Friends In Other Places

**AN: Had some spare time today so had time to write this and upload it. Thanks for the reviews, they mean a lot. I've said before how this is my first fanfic so any feedback is greatly welcomed.**

* * *

The ringing bell signalling the end of the school day hammered against Elizabeth's head and she winced, rubbing a hand across her forehead. Her first day had been stressful to say the least and now she developing a headache because of it.

She trudged her way to her locker and opened it up, dumping whatever books she carried with her inside. Elizabeth gazed at the few books she had acquired that day, her mind wandering. It was only when a voice sounded behind her that Elizabeth pulled herself out of her head and back into the real world. She turned around.

"What?" She inquired, having missed whatever the blond haired boy in front of her had said.

"I said are you going to stand there staring into your locker all day?" The boy joked, grinning easily at her. "It's the end of the day you know."

"I know, I know." Elizabeth muttered back in reply before shaking her head a little.

"Are you okay?" A new voice asked. Elizabeth glanced to the blonds right to see another boy stood there. He was a lot shorter and had spiked coloured hair. It reminded Elizabeth of the wacky hairstyles she used to see in Paris and she smiled slightly to herself.

"I'm fine." She answered.

"I'm Yugi, and this is Joey." Yugi indicated to the blond who waved at Elizabeth. Her smile spread some more.

"I'm Elizabeth, but call me any nickname of that you'd prefer." She instructed.

"Why?" Joey asked, his grin now gone to be replaced by a look of confusion.

"I just hate my name." Elizabeth replied with a shrug. Only her mother ever used her full name.

"So what do you want us to call you then?" Yugi inquired politely, still puzzled about the matter.

"I dont care. Liz, Lizzie, Eliza, Beth. Any you choose." Elizabeth answered.

"Erm, okay. I choose Lizzie." Joey informed them, grinning once more. "What about you Yug?"

"I'll just stick to Lizzie as well then." Yugi said, happy to go with what his friend chose.

"Hey, Yugi. You ready to walk home?" A brown haired girl called as she walked over to the three of them.

"Yeah, of course." Yugi answered, throwing his friend a smile. He seemed to notice Elizabeth again and looked between the two girls. "Oh, Téa. This is Lizzie. Lizzie, this is Téa." Yugi looked once more between the girls as he introduced them.

"Oh, erm, hi." Téa blushed.

"Hello." Elizabeth said back, amused at the other girls embarrassment.

"I'm, erm, sorry if I upset you this morning." Téa continued. "I didn't mean to, and it'd be great to get to know you." She smiled sweetly at Elizabeth and Elizabeth couldn't help but be touched a little. She's be downright rude to Téa that morning, but Téa's warnings about her piercings was just too much like the conversation Elizabeth had had with her own mother that morning. It had struck a nerve.

Still, Téa was being nice now, friendly even, but Elizabeth didn't want to be friends with them - not that she had anything against them. She just didn't want to be friends with anyone. She'd left all her friends behind in France, all her true friends. The type of friends that only bless you once in your life. Elizabeth knew she wouldn't find friends like those back in France here in Japan, so what was the point of trying?

"Do you want to walk home with us?" Yugi asked, pulling Elizabeth from her thoughts.

"No, I'm good." She replied quickly. "Thanks though." She added as an afterthought. Yugi nodded to himself.

"That's fine. We have to find Tristan first." He commented. Elizabeth thought back to this groups table at lunch and tried to figure out which person was Tristan.

"Is he the one with the brown hair or the long white hair?" She asked.

"The brown hair." Yugi replied. "The one with the white hair is Bakura."

"Why was Bakura late again, Yug?" Joey butted in, starting his own conversation. Elizabeth didn't mind though, it might give her time to slink off unnoticed.

"He wouldn't really say." Yugi replied with a frown. "He was acting really weird for the rest of the day though." The two boys seemed to reminisce about Bakura's behaviour. Elizabeth quietly shut her locker door and took a few steps towards the school entrance before she heard Yugi speak again.

"Oh, are you going now?" He asked. Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder.

"Yeah, my mum gets really mad if I'm late home from school." The lie fell effortlessly from her lips. It was a good excuse though, a reason to not hang around with people after school.

"Okay then. We'll see you tomorrow, maybe." Yugi waved goodbye with a smile.

"Maybe." Elizabeth replied before turning back around and continuing her walk home. Her walk home to a house that didn't feel like home. Her walk home to a house that was too big, too empty, for just her presence alone to occupy - and Elizabeth had no doubt she would be alone when she got back. Her mother was always far too busy to keep her company.

* * *

"Have you had any ideas yet?" Seto asked.

Helen Alice Walters stood before him, her blonde hair swept up and twisted into a perfect bun and her black trousers and frilly lilac blouse without stain or crease. Seto sometimes doubted her claims as an artist. He'd always imagined them messier, brighter, more cluttered. Still, he wasn't the expert - which is why he'd hired the expert stood before him.

"A few, yes." Helen nodded as she replied. "Out of the four hotels you commissioned me to design one of them lies next to a giant chess board."

"Yes?" Seto prompted. He watched as the professional coolness from her eyes slowly melted away as she spoke of her idea.

"I was thinking that the entire structure could be made from glass." She informed him. Seto sighed to himself. Maybe Helen Alice Walters wasn't as good as everyone thought she was. He leant forwards in his chair, resting his elbows on his desk and joining his hands.

"You do realise that this is a hotel you are building?" He inquired coldly. "A hotel where people will sleep, shower and do God knows what else there? The entire building cannot be made of glass." Helen smiled slightly to herself and tucked imaginary hair that hadn't fallen loose from her bun behind her ear. Seto registered in the back of his mind that Helen's hair was duller than her daughter Elizabeth's.

"It can be. Because I know of a type of glass that turns black at the click of a button." Helen answered, looking smug with herself.

"Turns completely black?" Seto repeated.

"Yes." She confirmed. Her eyes suddenly light up. "Can you imagine it? An individual pane of glass for each wall in each room. And at the click of the button it goes completely black. Each person in each room will choose to click this button at different times. What will that look like?" Seto thought to himself for half a second.

"A giant chessboard." He answered. Helen nodded, composing herself slightly.

"That was my thought as well. And the hotel will look stunning sat right next to the actual giant chessboard." Seto agreed. He could see now why people thought so highly of Helen Walters. She had ideas he'd never be able to dream up. No wonder she was costing Seto this much.

"Draw up the plans for it then and have them sent to me." With that Seto turned back to the laptop on his desk and Helen took her leave.

He gazed at the door once he had heard it shut behind her and tried to imagine the woman who had just left his office living and raising and teenager he had met at lunch that day. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't imagine it.

* * *

Elizabeth opened the take away bag in the kitchen and aroma of food hit her, making her already grouchy stomach rumble.

"Alright, alright." She spoke to it. "The foods here now."

Elizabeth unloaded her hoard of dumpling, spring rolls and noodles and took it with her into the living room. The tv was playing some film she had already seen before so she didn't feel the need to concentrate on it as she ate her food. She only felt marginally guilty as she stuffed her face, even though she had ordered out most days the previous week and knew she would be doing the same again. It wasn't her fault she couldn't cook though. She'd gone to a boarding school were the meals were on par with five stars restaurants. Elizabeth had never needed to learn how to cook. Well, until now that is.

_Tomorrow,_ She said to herself. _I'll cook something tomorrow._ Glancing at the clock Elizabeth wasn't surprised to see that it was already eight at night and her mother wasn't home yet. She didn't get in until after Elizabeth had gone to bed the previous night.

Eating another mouthful of noodles Elizabeth thought back over her first day at Domino High School. It all blended into one, even her almost fight was just a blur. The only part that stood out was lunch with Seto. Elizabeth remembered how easy it was to lie to Yugi and his friends, but how she'd almost let slip the tensions that lay between her and mother to Seto. She couldn't do that, not to her mother's employer. Elizabeth might not like her mother but she wasn't going to stop her from making money for the both of them.

Elizabeth thought back to the conversation. There was something about Seto's stare, the piercing look of his blue eyes. It made it hard to be dishonest to him. _I guess I'll just have to avoid him then._ Elizabeth retired to her room, leaving behind the mess of discarded takeaway cartons and the thought that avoiding Seto had made her feel almost sad.


	5. Strange Dreams and Absent Mothers

**AN: So this took forever to write and I don't really like it that much. I promise it picks up in the next chapter.**

* * *

Only two eventful things happened in Elizabeth's eyes the following day.

The latter of the two involved Tuesday afternoons chemistry lesson and Joey almost setting fire to himself trying to light his bunsen burner. He'd lent in too close and had misjudged how high the flame would spring when the gas rushing out caught fire. Only Tristan's quick reaction of yanking his friend backwards avoided both of Joey's eyebrows being alighted. The whole class seemed to find it hilarious, especially when Tristan pulled Joey with a little bit too much force causing them to topple over and fall to the floor. Elizabeth merely gave the duo a glance at where they lay sprawled on the floor and went back to her practical.

The former of the events happened before Elizabeth got to school - before she even woke up actually. It was a dream involving a brown haired boy with blue eyes that could give piercing stares. Elizabeth had had a few dreams involving fantasy boys, and the occasional girl, over the past year or two, but she'd never had one involving a boy she knew from real life. She usually enjoyed the dreams, and she'd been enjoying this one as well - until she'd been awoken halfway through by an extremely loud beeping of an alarm on her phone.

Elizabeth found it hard to describe exactly how she felt as she lay awake staring at the ceiling, the alarm still shrilling so loudly through the morning air that Elizabeth's partially deaf ears even felt under attack from the noise. If she had to sum it up, Elizabeth would say she felt a mix of embarrassment, guilt… and a little bit of curiosity. Pushing that thought from her mind before it could develop any more Elizabeth finally tumbled out of bed and silenced the alarms protests. She'd gotten ready for school and walked the forty minutes to get there.

Once the school day started Elizabeth knew she would have to avoid Seto, but at the same time her eyes scoured through the crowds of people around her to seek out his face. As lunch came and went without Elizabeth seeing him she grew confused. It was only when she overheard a conversation between two girls about how Seto got to pick and choose what days he came into school that Elizabeth finally gave up looking for him. The only thought she had for him then was _lucky bastard_. So after a, thankfully, more normal day at school than her last, Elizabeth walked back home and was comforted to find that some things never changed - her mother was not home yet, and probably wouldn't be for some time. Dialling the number of the same chinese takeaway she had the previous night Elizabeth settled down on the couch and flipped through the tv channels. It would be another eventless night.

* * *

Wednesday was altogether more peculiar.

It started like most days, though Elizabeth noticed something after her first two lessons at school. The students were avoiding her. They gave her strange glances as she walked past them. They deliberately moved out of their way to give Elizabeth a wide berth whenever she was walking down the corridor. She'd expected to be ignored, she wanted to be ignored - but not like this. The other students were treating her as if she had the plague or some other highly infectious disease. Elizabeth thought herself an idiot for not noticing it earlier. And she wasn't the only one who'd noticed either.

"Why don't you sit with us at lunch today?" Yugi asked just before Elizabeth entered the canteen. The blonde girl scanned the room quickly for a free table but found none.

"I'm fine, thanks." Elizabeth declined. _I guess I'm stuck on the roof today,_ she thought to herself. Yugi shifted awkwardly where he stood.

"I've seen how the other students treat you. I overhear what they say." He explained. "I just want you to know that you're always welcome to sit with us anytime you like." Elizabeth clenched her jaw so she wouldn't say something she'd regret later. She didn't need anymore friends, she'd made that decision as soon as she found out about her fate in Japan.

"I appreciate it, but honestly, I'm fine." Elizabeth flashed the small boy in front of her a smile. Yugi looked at her which such compassion that Elizabeth had to force herself to turn the other way and walk towards the stairs that led to the roof.

She headed up them and flung open the door that led outside, the wind rushing at her and ruffling her hair. Elizabeth stepped onto the roof and glanced around. Five people in a group were stood near the chain link fence that surrounded the perimeter of the roof, laughing and talking to one another. Another gust of wind caused the door to slam itself shut behind Elizabeth and all five other people instantly turned their heads towards the noise. Seeing the new girl stood there on her own they exchanged glances and talked again but at a much lower volume. Elizabeth just rolled her eyes as she walked past them and occupied a corner to herself, gazing down on the city of Domino. After a minute or so she heard the door slam itself shut again and she smiled lazily to herself. Maybe having the plague had its benefits after all.

* * *

"Any luck, Yugi?" Ryou asked as he saw his friend approaching their table. Yugi shook his head.

"No." He replied, a dejected tone to his voice.

"Dont worry about it, Yug." Joey chimed in, lovingly hitting Yugi on the back as he sat down. Yugi gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. "Oh, erm, sorry." Joey grinned at him.

"I think what Joey's trying to say is that Elizabeth isn't an idiot and she can look after herself." Téa said, shaking her head a little at Joey's antics. Yugi sighed.

"I know, it's just I hear some people say awful things about her. It can't be easy being the new girl at school." He mused.

"Maybe she just needs to settle in and then she'll make some friends." Ryou offered.

"Maybe." Yugi agreed, though he wasn't too sure.

He hated to see people bullied by others and he worried Elizabeth would feel upset when she found just how mean some of the students were being towards her. But, like always, his friends soon lifted him out of his glum mood and found a way to make him laugh again. Elizabeth was still at the back of his mind, but he put it to one side for the moment and enjoyed his lunch break with his friends.

* * *

The front door rattled as Elizabeth slammed it shut behind her. The walk home from school had been gruelling in the last of the summer heat, but Elizabeth would much rather walk than catch the bus and spend even more time with the students from her new school. She dumped her bag on the floor and made straight for the kitchen in search of a drink - but something surprising made her stop in the doorway before she could enter. Her mother was home.

Elizabeth's mother who purposely worked long hours so she wouldn't have to socialise as much with her daughter was home and now currently had her head in the fridge in search of something.

"What the hell are you doing home?" Elizabeth demanded.

"Oh, it's you." Helen replied, not moving position from where she stood staring into the fridge. "From the way the whole house just shook I was expecting about three armed robbers to be currently raiding the house." Elizabeth clenched her jaw.

"Ha, very mature." She responded.

"Not that it's any of your business but I'm home finalising some plans for Mr Kaiba." Helen answered, giving up on her search and shutting the fridge door. She turned to give her daughter a cold look.

"What?" Elizabeth asked harshly, wondering what her mother could possibly find to have an argument with her.

"Why isn't there anything in the fridge?" Helen inquired.

"Erm, because you haven't bought anything." Elizabeth replied in a tone that implied she was dealing with a very stupid person.

"Oh, and it's my responsibility to keep the fridge stocked?" Helen snapped. "Just like it's my responsibility to do everything in this house and everything for you as well, I suppose." With that, Helen brushed past her daughter and started to walk up the stairs.

"Well you're the adult in this house!" Elizabeth screamed at her mothers retreating figure. "Why don't you try acting like it for once in your life?!"

Only silence answered Elizabeth's question and she lashed out and kicked the kitchen table, hoping to release some of her pent up anger. It didn't. Elizabeth only gained a very sore foot to add to her list of things that were annoying her so far.

Storming over to the fridge Elizabeth swung the door open and peered inside. A half eaten pack of apples and a large bottle of mineral water were the only things to look at. _It's a fine meal for me,_ Elizabeth thought to herself. Pouring herself a glass of water Elizabeth grabbed an apple and sat at the kitchen table. She'd only taken a sip of water and a bite from her apple before her thoughts turned to her mother and the hand holding the apple clenched.

Suddenly, the apple was flying through the air as Elizabeth threw it and it exploded against the kitchen wall in a display of bright green and white. It made Elizabeth feel marginally better.

* * *

"Seto!" An excited voice yelled as Seto Kaiba closed the front door behind him. It clicked quietly into place as Mokuba bounded down the stairs and threw his arms around his older brother.

"Hey Mokuba, what have you been up to?" Seto asked as he returned Mokuba's hug.

"Nothing really." Mokuba replied as he drew back and looked up at his brother. "Dinner's ready though." He grinned widely at Seto and Seto gave a small smile himself. It had been a long day at work today, and it was days like these he was glad he had hired help in the house. If it was up to Seto he'd do everything himself, but there just wasn't enough time in a day. It was late enough already.

Putting away his coat and briefcase, Seto followed his brother into the kitchen where their meals awaited them. Seto relaxed as he ate his dinner and listened to Mokuba reel off stories about his day, talking about what he did in lessons to the homework that he flew through to complaining about there never being anything good on tv. The tension from his stressful day lifted. When Mokuba began to try and, very badly, hide his yawning Seto sent him upstairs and followed himself soon after. He found his brother already half asleep in bed. Seto tucked him in.

"Goodnight, big brother." Mokuba mumbled as he fell asleep. Seto stroked his unruly black hair.

"Goodnight, Mokie." He whispered to his brother in the dark.


	6. Cooking for Dummies

The dusty smell of decaying old books filled the air around Elizabeth as she balanced precariously on her tiptoes and squinted at the faded spines of the books in front of her. The cookbook section of the school library was very understocked and Elizabeth was confused as to what books she should pick. Having finally decided that living off of takeaways from now until the day she graduated was not the healthiest thing she could do, Elizabeth set off determined to find a cookbook that would turn her into a master chef overnight - perhaps something titled along the lines of _Cooking for Dummies_ or _Cooking for those whose only experience of cooking comes from one food class where she almost set the classroom alight when trying to bake a pizza._

But the only books Elizabeth could see before her seemed to be for experienced chefs, or well, at least chefs who knew where the dials on the cooker should be turned to when cooking food. As she picked some of the books up and flipped through them her head spinned at some of the recipes for dishes she had never even heard of. It took a whole ten minutes of deliberating, but Elizabeth settled for the recipe book that didn't confuse her the most along with a book detailing how to bake some desserts that looked mouth watering. Elizabeth couldn't help herself on the latter, she had always had a sweet tooth.

She quickly jotted down some ingredients and utensils she would need in the back of her notebook before closing it and slipping it into her bag. The bell signalling the end of the day rang out and fellow students who just had study period like her began to file out of the library as Elizabeth made her way over to the main desk to get her books checked out. She weaved between them before finally reaching the desk and placing her books down. Sunlight streamed in through windows directly in front of her and Elizabeth brushed her hair away from her face, her forehead a little damp with sweat. She supposed she should enjoy the heat whilst it lasted she mused as she stared at dust motes swarming in the air.

"Excuse me." The woman sat at the desk in front of her spoke in an annoyed tone. "Your books."

"Oh, right." Elizabeth mumbled, breaking out of her thoughts. "Thanks".

* * *

The sun still shone as Elizabeth walked down the street, alighting her blonde hair like a shining halo all around her head. She squinted down at the phone in her hand, the sun making it difficult to see the screen. From what she could tell Elizabeth could cut through the park to her left and end up on the high street where she would find a shop to buy what she needed for tonight's meal. Glancing at her screen once more just to be sure Elizabeth pocketed the phone and set off at a faster pace, entering the park through large black wrought iron gates. The scenery took her breath away.

Just moment ago she had been walking the city streets, the greyness and large square buildings the main attraction. Now, she was wandering through an oasis of green as grass and trees stretched out before her. It was beautiful and the scenery reminded her nostalgically of the cottage in France she lived at when she wasn't at school. It was nestled in the midst of the countryside and had a calming effect on her that she couldn't explain. But even now as she walked Elizabeth could feel a tranquility settle on her. She smiled to herself as she continued down the path.

It split off to the left and right, forming a large square before the two paths joined together once more and led to the end of the park. Elizabeth could make out the exit in the far distance. In the middle of the large square of grass was a huge circular fountain. The path on each side of the square even cut into the grass and ran up to it, forming a large ring around it. Along this path were wooden benches, and sat on one of them was a small boy, definitely not old enough to be in high school yet, with long black hair. He sat quietly, simply gazing at the fountain. He looked up as Elizabeth made her way up the path and smiled at her.

"Hello." He said politely. Elizabeth found herself smiling back.

"Hi." She replied. The boy studied her for a moment.

"You can sit down if you want, you look tired." He offered, scooting up the bench a little.

Now that he mentioned it Elizabeth did feel tired from walking. The sun was not helping her at all either.

"Thanks." She answered before taking a seat next to the small boy. Some water from the fountain found it's way over to her and cooled down her skin where it touched. She could see why the kid had chosen to sit here.

"I'm Mokuba, by the way." The boy grinned at her.

"Nice to meet you, Mokuba." Elizabeth grinned back. "I'm Lizzie."

"Nice to meet you too." Mokuba answered before turning back to stare at the fountain. There was something in his expression that looked almost hurt.

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked before she could stop herself. Mokuba turned his gaze on her and blinked.

"Huh?" He asked.

"You seem preoccupied by something." Elizabeth explained.

"Oh, it's nothing." Mokuba muttered, now staring at the floor. There was something in his unhappy expression that pained Elizabeth. Mokuba seemed like the type of kid who should always have a smile on his face, not an upset expression like the one he now wore.

"You can tell me, you know." Elizabeth reassured him. "I've got no one to repeat it to." She smiled at him.

"It's stupid." He sighed.

"Let me be the judge of that." Elizabeth replied. He nodded.

"Okay then." He said before starting. "It's just people from school."

"Are they bullying you?" Elizabeth guessed.

"No, nothing like that." Mokuba shook his head, his black hair swishing. "They just make comments sometimes. They mostly ignore me."

Elizabeth was surprised that the kid she had just met was having the same problems as she was.

"The people at my school are the same to me." Elizabeth confessed to him. Mokuba turned to stare at her with wide eyes.

"No way." He declared. Elizabeth laughed and it drifted into the air around them.

"Yes way." She assured him. Mokuba still looked shocked.

"But why would people ignore you?" Mokuba questioned. The girl sat next to him was like none he had seen, with her wild hair and wilder piercings. He found it hard to imagine her blending into the background in people's minds.

"Because they don't like me." Elizabeth answered.

"Why? You seem nice." Mokuba replied.

"You're very sweet." Elizabeth told him. "But unfortunately everyone has written me off as a freak." _Well, not everyone,_ she thought to herself.

"Well you just need to show them who you really are." Mokuba pointed out. Elizabeth smiled at the thought.

"And you can do the same as well." Elizabeth told him. Mokuba's smile faded a little at that but soon picked back up. He nodded enthusiastically.

"And if we see each other again, we can compare notes." He laughed. Elizabeth joined in. Mokuba glanced down fiddled with his sleeve when he caught sight of his watch. "Oh, is that the time? I should really be heading home." Mokuba said as he stood up.

Elizabeth got up as well, stretching as she did. She didn't realise how long they'd be sat there for.

"Goodbye, Lizzie." Mokuba waved as he walked in the opposite direction to her.

"See ya, Mokuba." She waved back, a small smile gracing her lips. She'd never met the boy before but he seemed sweet, young - almost naive and innocent. _And familiar,_ she thought as she headed towards the parks exit.

* * *

The smoke hit her right in the face as Elizabeth opened the oven door. She wafted it away with one hand as she spluttered uncontrollably into the other one, all while the shrill of the fire alarm sounded out around her.

She grabbed the food tray with one hand, yelping as it burnt it. She cursed herself for being so stupid and picked up an oven glove before trying again. What she pulled out was a pathetic attempt at lasagna.

It was burnt black, including the glass tray she had baked it in which had even cracked in places. She threw it onto the countertop in disgust. Good thing she had the foresight to pick up a few microwave meals. A few minutes later, with the dismal attempt at cooking still on the side, Elizabeth sat eating a bland tasting meal and staring at a hastily written note left by her mother.

_Out of town for a few days. Should be back Sunday._

Where out of town was Elizabeth didn't know. As for being back Sunday… Elizabeth scoffed. It wasn't uncommon for her mother to vanish and then to reappear a week or so later.

Elizabeth finished her microwave meal and washed her plate in the sink. She eyed up her burnt offerings warily, unsure as to what to do with it. The picture in the book had looked so tasty, and the recipe seemed easy enough to follow. Thinking about what the lasagna was supposed to look like made Elizabeth crave something with some actual flavour to it. Picking up the other book she had acquired at the library, the baking one, Elizabeth flicked through the pages until she found something that appealed to her. She stopped at the page detailing how to bake and decorate cupcakes.

Eyeing up the burnt lasagna again, Elizabeth decided that perhaps she should try her hand at cooking again on another day.


	7. Lessons Learnt

The classroom was quiet as the teacher spoke, but the words washed right over Elizabeth. She was in world history, not exactly her favourite subject, but after having home room for an hour this morning in which Yugi and his friends had constantly tried to start a conversation with her Elizabeth was just glad to be in an actual lesson once more.

As Elizabeth stared out of the window she warily eyed the stormy looking grey sky and wondered where the summer had gone. It had been perfectly sunny yesterday. Then, without warning, rain began to pour from the sky. A full shower had started and now lashed at the windows, obstructing Elizabeth's view of the outside world. She sighed before turning to the front of class, eyes skimming over what the teacher had wrote on the board. It seemed vaguely familiar to her, but Elizabeth knew that she'd have to do some more reading on the subject to get a better grasp of it. Before she could stop herself her gaze had drifted over to the right, where Seto sat a little way across the room. She was still jealous at his ability to pick and choose days to come into school. If she dared try that, her mother would have her head. For a person whose maternal instinct and parenting skills lacked, Helen Walters was adamant her daughter would receive an education.

With nothing else to do Elizabeth lazily rolled a pen back and forth across her desk and reminisced about the previous day when she had met Mokuba in the park. For someone so young he gave good advice. _Well you just need to show them who you really are._

Elizabeth pursed her lips as she thought. The whole school had turned against her, and as much as she didn't mind being ignored, the stares and mutterings and name calling was starting to wear her out. She wanted to be invisible - not a target for others to shoot at. Her fight with Akihiro really hadn't helped her either. She received death stares from him and his friends at least daily. Elizabeth knew she needed a plan, something that would help the other students warm to her and show them that she wasn't this freak they all spoke of. But how was she meant to win over an entire student body?

The bell signalling the end of class and the start of lunch cut through her thoughts as it sounded throughout the halls. Elizabeth slid her untouched notebook into her bag and followed the rest of the crowds through the halls, heading for the stairs leading to the roof that were situated just past the canteen doors. As Elizabeth approached them a voice sounded over behind her.

"Do you want to sit with us today?" Yugi asked, his face filled with concern. "It's raining so I'm guessing you won't want to go to the roof today."

Elizabeth glanced out the window next to her to see the downfall that had started earlier had not ceased yet. She'd been too busy in her thoughts to even realise. Staring down at Yugi's hope filled face Elizabeth sighed and nodded.

"Okay then." She replied. Yugi smiled at her and led her over to a table where Joey, Tristan and Téa sat. "No, erm...Bakura then?" Elizabeth asked as she joined them, remembering the name of the white haired boy she had seen with the group. Téa shook her head.

"No. We've only been back at school a week and he's barely been in." She explained. The group threw worried looks at one another, leaving Elizabeth confused. So what if the guy decided to skip school? Elizabeth didn't blame him.

"So, Lizzie." Joey began. "How's your first week been?" Elizabeth gave him a smile.

"Dreadful." She answered, laughing slightly to herself.

"I'm sure it'll get better." Yugi reassured her. Elizabeth shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not." She replied, trying to seem unconcerned by it.

As the group carried on talking Elizabeth let her gaze wander the canteen. She noticed Seto sat on his own again and wondered if he chose to isolate himself or whether others had chosen to do that for him. Looking away, her thoughts turned back to the problem at hand. How did you get every student in the school to like you? Elizabeth thought of her friend Marjorie back in France. The girl had an aura that people were just drawn to. Everyone at her old school loved Marjorie, and as a result of being her friend, the aura had enveloped Elizabeth too and everyone loved her. But here in Japan, she was on her own.

How she wished she could go back to her old school, to the gossiping in the halls and the picnics underneath the cherry blossoms by the lake. And to the late night parties in one anothers dorms. Elizabeth suddenly gasped.

"That's it!" She exclaimed. From the startled looks of the others on the table, Elizabeth assumed she must have interrupted them.

"What's it?" Tristan asked.

"A party. At mine. Tonight." Elizabeth explained. It was perfect! Her mother was gone and she had a free house.

"Party?" Joey questioned, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Yup." Elizabeth nodded. "Make sure to tell everyone."

"Do you really want every student coming to your house?" Téa asked dubiously.

"The more the merrier." Elizabeth grinned back.

"Will they all fit in your house?" Joey joked, finding the thought of everyone from school crammed into house quite funny.

"Oh, that won't be a problem. "Elizabeth replied back easily. "My house is huge." The group stared at the strange girl in amazement.

"Where do you live?" Tristan questioned in awe. Elizabeth dove into her bag and retrieved her notebook, scribbling down her address before ripping the page out and handing it over to the group.

"Right there." She answered, tapping the page.

"Wow, you must be rich or something to live on that street. All the houses are massive! It's not that far from Kaiba's own mansion, actually." Joey said, clearly impressed. Elizabeth frowned, having not thought about where Seto lived.

"Really?" She asked.

"Oh, no! Téa, we have to finish that paper for biology next lesson." Yugi suddenly interrupted, throwing his friend a worried look.

"Don't worry, Yugi." Téa answered calmly. "There's still twenty minutes left of lunch. We can get it done if we head to the library now." Yugi nodded before both he and Téa gathered their things and stood up.

"Is that the one on photosynthesis?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Yeah, have you guys done finished it?" Téa asked her, Joey and Tristan. Elizabeth nodded without much thought. She had finished it in class. Joey threw Tristan an uneasy look.

"Yeah… we finished it, didn't we?" He asked.

"Nope." Tristan replied without hesitation. Joey groaned.

"Sorry, Lizzie. We gotta get this done." He apologised as he stood up.

"Yeah, sorry about this." Tristan added as he too rose from the table.

"Honestly, it's fine." Elizabeth assured them. "I was going to go get some food anyway."

"If you're sure." Yugi said, staring at Elizabeth to see if there was an indication she was lying to spare their feelings.

"I am. I dont want you guys getting detention and it being by fault. Now go." She instructed.

They left quickly, the time against them, and hurried for the library. Even though there wasn't a lot of time left for lunch, the queue for food was still quite large. Elizabeth joined reluctantly, but she was hungry so would just have to wait. The queue inched forward slowly, revealing an array of food to choose from. As Elizabeth was mulling over what to buy she felt the back of her skirt pull away from her.

Her thoughts froze. Someone's hand was trying to get up her skirt.

Without hesitation Elizabeth spun around and punched whoever it was straight in the face. They fell to the floor clutching their nose and Elizabeth winced and shook her hand. Her knuckles were aching from the impact.

She glanced down and was surprised to see it was the boy she had fought with days earlier - Akihiro. He sat on the floor glaring up at Elizabeth, trying to stem the flow of blood from his nose.

"What the hell you psychotic bitch?!" He exclaimed.

"Next time, why don't you ask permission before trying to get up my skirt?" Elizabeth growled. "Or did you just decide to take a chance since no girl would ever let you?"

"You!" A new voice yelled. Elizabeth looked to her right to see an angry looking teacher coming her way. "Go to the Principals office straight away."

"Me!" Elizabeth yelled. "That was practically just self defence." She indicated to where Akihiro sat on the floor.

"Now!" The teacher shouted. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"Fine, whatever." She muttered, readjusting the bag on her shoulder before she stormed past all the students staring at her. It was only when she was navigating the halls that she realised she didn't even know where the Principals office was. _Oh, this is going to be fun,_ Elizabeth thought bitterly to herself.

* * *

A door slammed loudly behind him and Seto Kaiba turned away from his locker to see what had caused such a noise.

_Of course,_ Seto thought to himself as he saw an extremely annoyed looking Elizabeth exit the Principals office. He'd witnessed her earlier display, even seen as Akihiro had tried to slide a hand up her skirt. Seto told himself that he had simply been gazing in that direction at the time, and that he hadn't been watching her for most of lunch.

Elizabeth muttered angrily under her breath and fiddled with something in her hand. She reached into her palm with her other hand multiple times and brought them up to her face. _Her piercings,_ Seto suddenly realised. The Principal had obviously made her take them out. When she'd put them all back in again she began to walk right towards him. She looked up and stopped in surprise just a few steps in front of him.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Elizabeth questioned.

"Shouldn't you?" Seto replied with a smirk. Elizabeth glared at him.

"Yeah, well, turns out this school doesn't really appreciate my crazy fighting skills. What's your excuse?" She quirked her eyebrow with the piercing at him. The metal flashed in the light.

"There's an emergency at work." Seto answered. He thought back to the phone call he had received just as the bell for the start of lessons rang out. The coding for the new duel disks he was working on had multiple bugs in it, and now Seto himself would have to sift through it line by line to sort the problem out. He thought again about just firing all his employees and recruiting them from scratch. Mokuba had opted for a simpler idea - hire more staff.

"Oh no, did someone play an illegal move?" Elizabeth asked in mock horror. Now Seto was the one to glare at her. Elizabeth laughed warmly. "I'm just joking."

"Clearly. I wouldn't expect someone like you to know anything about Duel Monsters." Seto replied coldly.

"I used to play, actually." Elizabeth shot back. "And what do you mean, someone like me?" Seto sighed.

"Look, I'm kind of busy at the moment." He snapped. Elizabeth gave him a hard look.

"Oh, yeah, clearly." She indicated around them. Seto just growled under his breath. "Well, I was going to invite you to my party, but now I'm reconsidering." Elizabeth crossed her arms and pointedly looked away from him.

"Oh, however will I live?" Seto replied sarcastically. Elizabeth whipped her head around to glare at him again.

"You're intolerable." She all but hissed.

"Dont you have a class you should be in?" Seto asked suddenly, weary of the conversation.

"Don't you have a company to run?" Elizabeth retorted before stalking past him.

Seto took a deep breath and shook his head. That girl was unbearable. As he was nearing the exit of the school though he heard more voices just around the corner. _The dramas not over yet,_ he thought tiredly to himself.

"After school then, we're all agreed?" A voice said. Seto frowned. He knew that voice. He heard others murmur in agreement.

"Right then, we'll show that stuck up new girl who's really in charge around here then. She'll never see us coming." There were a few snickers and then the group walked away in the opposite direction. Seto stood rooted to the spot.

That was Akihiro and his friends, obviously talking about attacking Elizabeth after school. Seto may find her annoying, but Akihiro was dangerous, and Seto wasn't about to let the girl be hurt by him. Besides, he was paying Elizabeth's mother to design his hotels. She might quit if she found out her daughter was attacked and Seto could have stopped it.

He glanced down at his watch. Two hours until the end of school. He deliberated for a moment and then walked out of the school doors. He could get to the office, fix the bugs in the code and be back in time to warn her. He was sure of it.

* * *

Elizabeth was engulfed in the crowd as the students left school at the end of the day. There was a buzz to them today though, not only because Friday was over and the weekend had arrived - but also because news of her party had spread. Elizabeth had had multiple people come up to her to double check her address and to ask what time they should be there at and if they should bring anything. The buzz had even caught a hold of Elizabeth too, because for the first time ever she was actually excited to go home. She was even contemplating getting the bus to shorten her journey time home.

She exited the school gates and began to walk down the path. The bus stop loomed in the distance, a swarm of people huddled around it. She deliberated once more about whether to get the bus when a voice sounded out behind her.

"Get in, Elizabeth." It said. She turned towards the road, a confused expression on her face. Her confusion grew as she saw it was none other than Seto Kaiba himself sat inside his limo, the window down and his face on view.

"Erm, why would I do that?" Elizabeth questioned, aware that people were staring as they filed past her.

"Because Akihiro and his gang of idiots are planning to attack you whilst you walk home alone." Seto explained slowly. Elizabeth regarded Seto with a suspicious look. Even if that were true, why would it be Seto warning her?

"Why do you care so much?" Elizabeth asked. Seto faltered at the question. Why did he care? He grasped desperately for an answer and said the first thing he could think of that sounded reasonable.

"Because you're Helens daughter." He replied. Whatever Elizabeth had been thinking of doing at that moment suddenly disappeared. She turned on Seto with a furious look.

"Oh, is that why?" She demanded. "You're worried my mother might be upset with you if something happens to me! Well, here's some news for someone who thinks they know everything - my mother doesn't care what happens to me! So dont worry yourself any longer." And with that she stormed off up the street.

Seto cursed under his breath. "Follow her." He instructed his driver.

The limo set off, but Elizabeth was devious, Seto would give her that. She clued onto what he was doing right away and turned down an alley where clearly the limo would not fit. Seto cursed her again.

"Wait here, I'll be back shortly." Seto told the driver before exiting the limo. He looked down the alley Elizabeth had just walked down. It was empty.

_Great, I'm going to have to find her now._

* * *

Elizabeth had soon become lost. She only really knew the main streets of Domino, she had never ventured into the side streets and back alleys, and now she found herself in the heart of them.

She seethed silently inside. It was Seto's fault. If he had just let her get to the bus stop Elizabeth would have been home by now. She randomly took a turning and found herself in an alley that led to a dead end. _Smart move, Liz,_ she chided to herself. She turned back around only to find her way blocked by Akihiro and two of his friends.

Elizabeth's heart skipped a beat. _How long have they been following me for? How could I not have noticed?_

"Hello there, girl." Akihiro said with a cruel smile. "It's time for you to learn your lesson."


	8. Sibling Rivalry

Elizabeth opened her mouth to give a witty retort back, but Akihiro moved fast. He had her pinned up against the wall before she could even say a word. Her head whipped back into the brick, a dizzy feeling settling over her, as her back slammed into the wall and left her breathless. Elizabeth squirmed in Akihiro's hold but he was too strong.

"Get off me!" She yelled, still wriggling about to find some escape. Akihiro just laughed.

"I don't think so." He all but purred in her ear. His voice sent shivers throughout Elizabeth's body and a nauseous feeling rose in her stomach. Akihiro pulled back to smile menacingly at her.

"Let me go." Elizabeth tried again, quieter this time. Her struggles had ceased.

"No, not yet." Akihiro murmured response. His hand traced her cheeks and left Elizabeth's skin feeling cold. "We're going to have some fun first."

His hand moved play with her hair, brushing it away from her face. The nauseous feeling in Elizabeth progressed further to the point where she feared she would throw up right there and then. Akihiro's hand suddenly froze, his face confused for a moment before it lit up in wonder.

"What's this?" He questioned, trailing a finger around Elizabeth's ear.

Her stomach clenched and her heart raced. _My hearing aid,_ she thought desperately. Her struggles suddenly renewed and she lashed out at Akihiro, trying to kick and punch him. He simply took a step back and tightly gripped her wrists together in one hand. Elizabeth winced - the hold would leave bruises. With his other hand Akihiro suddenly ripped the hearing aid out of Elizabeth's ear, engulfing her in silence.

Panic gripped her, and she felt her heart beat pound against her chest faster than ever. Akihiro was saying something again, but Elizabeth couldn't pick up the words. Her racing mind couldn't focus on his lips either to try and decipher what he was saying. Elizabeth was in a blind panic. She had no idea what to do, no idea what she could do, and she felt more terrified than she had ever been in her life.

And then, suddenly, she wasn't holding Akihiro's attention any more.

His head turned to stare at the entrance to the alley. His two friends who had been hanging back throughout all of this rushed forward. Had somebody else arrived? Elizabeth followed their path to where… no, surely it wasn't. Seto Kaiba?

* * *

"I always knew you were a coward, Akihiro. But cornering girls in alleyways? You've reached a new low." Seto informed Akihiro coldly.

The other boy whipped his head around to glare at Seto. His two friends stormed towards him, one faster than the other. Seto grabbed the one to reach him first and threw him into a wall. There was a loud crack as his head made contact with the wall and the boy slumped to the floor with a groan, awkwardly reaching for the back of his head. The other boy slowed down and backed off slightly.

Akihiro released his hold on Elizabeth and took a few steps towards Seto. Seto glanced at Elizabeth, relieved to see she was unharmed and merely just shook up. Akihiro spread his hands.

"I was just teaching her a lesson. I think I've done that." He replied. "She wont be bothering us again."

And with that Akihiro and his friend made their leave, Akihiro throwing something on the floor before grabbing the boy still slumped on the ground and dragging him out of the alley with him. Seto took a few steps forward, curious to see what Akihiro had left behind. Elizabeth made for it as well, but she was unsteady on her feet and had to lean back into the wall for support. Seto stooped and picked it up, staring at it in wonder. A hearing aid?

He looked back to Elizabeth to see her glaring at him.

"Is this yours?" He asked. She gave him a withering look, and Seto was confused for a moment. _If she has a hearing aid, then she's going to be at least partially deaf,_ Seto realised.

Elizabeth suddenly took a step forward and snatched it from his hand. She turned to face away from him as she fiddled to put it back into her ear. Once back in, the world returned to her and she could hear once again. Elizabeth took some deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She was trembling all over. _It's fine, you're fine, you can hear again, you're safe._ With one last deep breath she turned back around, surprised to see Seto still standing there. She'd have expected him to have gone by now.

"Can I help you with something?" She demanded.

"You're deaf?" Seto just questioned in response. A little tickling of panic hit her, nothing like earlier though. She merely just glowered at Seto again.

"Fuck off, Seto." She snapped before walking away. She only made it three steps before Seto grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"What are you doing?" He asked harshly.

"Going home." Elizabeth replied simply.

"I'll take you home." Seto instructed. Elizabeth pulled herself out of his grip and snorted.

"Like hell you will." She growled.

Seto sighed heavily. He just wanted to go home, but the emergency at work still hadn't been sorted. The only reason he had left was to try and keep Elizabeth out of harms way. _Akihiro did leave,_ Seto thought to himself. He debated between dragging Elizabeth to the limo and taking her home or simply just letting her finish walking home. Upon looking at her scowling face again, he decided on the latter.

"Fine, the high streets that way." Seto informed her, pointing to the left. Elizabeth gave a mock gasp and placed a hand on her chest.

"Oh, however will I repay you, good Sir?" She asked sarcastically before turning on her heel and walking away from him. She paused for a moment and looked over her shoulder. "And you are so disinvited from my party!" She shouted before continuing on her way.

Seto just stood there in shock, the same thought from earlier returning to him. _That girl is unbearable._

* * *

The sun was peaking out from behind now lighter clouds than they had been before, streaming into the park between the branches of the trees, giving every leaf a halo of light. All of this was lost on Elizabeth as she stormed down the parks path, her furious emotions threatening to consume her.

_Who the fuck does Seto Kaiba think he is?_

She didn't appreciate being saved, albeit what the small part of her that was grateful was saying. Even though deep down Elizabeth knew she wouldn't have gotten out of there on her own, she convinced herself she would have been okay without him. The fact that he now knew her secret grated at her as well. As far as Elizabeth was concerned, Seto Kaiba did not have the right to know personal details about her life - whether he was her mother's employer or not.

In her blind fury Elizabeth almost walked past Mokuba who was sat at the same bench he had been sitting at the previous day. Elizabeth stopped short and stared at him.

"Hey, Mokuba." She said, getting his attention. He turned his head from where he had been staring at the fountain and his face lit up when he saw who it was.

"I wasn't expecting to see you any time soon, Lizzie." Mokuba replied honestly. Elizabeth chuckled.

"I know, right. Small world, huh?" She agreed as she took a seat next to the small boy.

"So, how's showing everyone who you really are working for you?" Mokuba inquired, gazing curiously at Elizabeth.

"I don't know, we'll see tonight." She answered with a mischievous smile. Mokuba frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I'm having a party, everyone's going to be there - including you." Elizabeth informed him.

"Me?" Mokuba asked incredulous.

"Yup." Elizabeth nodded. "I want you to be there to witness the moment when everyone suddenly stops thinking I'm weird and thinks instead about how awesome I am." She and Mokuba shared a laugh.

"I'll do my best, I'll have to ask my brother first though." Mokuba explained.

"Your brother?" Elizabeth inquired.

"Yeah, you probably know him." Mokuba replied. "He's Seto Kaiba." Elizabeth sat in stunned silence for a second.

"Huh, you don't say." She muttered. _Small world, indeed._

* * *

"Wow."

That was all Joey could say as he, Yugi, Téa and Tristan stood out of Elizabeth's house. They had tried to contact Ryo to invite him as well, but his phone was switched off every time they tried to ring. In the end, they had given up and come along without him.

Joey fished out the address Elizabeth had written down for them and double checked it just to be sure.

"Is this the place?" Tristan asked when he saw what Joey was doing.

"Uh, huh." The blond replied. The group stared at the house in awe.

It was a modern looking three story building with huge windows and sprawling gardens. Mansion seemed a more befitting word for it, but the group had seen Seto's home and this was nowhere near as large as that. Then again, Seto Kaiba hated to be outdone.

"Let's go knock then." Yugi suggested, staring at his friend for confirmation. They agreed and moved towards the front door.

Music could just be heard from inside. Joey knocked loudly, competing with the noise. He wondered whether he would be heard or not but moments later the door was wrenched opened by a grinning Elizabeth.

"Congratulations!" She yelled, throwing her arms out. A large bottle she was holding in one hand tipped precariously and almost spilt but Elizabeth righted it at the last second.

"For what?" Téa questioned, looking at the other girl cautiously.

"You're the first ones to arrive." Elizabeth beamed at them.

"First ones?" Yugi asked hesitantly. "Are you sure?" From the way Elizabeth was acting, she was most certainly drunk.

"What, couldn't wait for the party to start to begin drinking alcohol?" Joey joked.

"You know me so well." Elizabeth replied, throwing an almost flirty grin at the blond which took him by surprise. "Now get inside." The group compiled and entered the house, staring around in amazement again.

"Nice house." Téa commented.

"My mother is an architect." Elizabeth explained. "Only the best for her."

She led them all to the kitchen where a wide array of drinks and food littered every surface available. Music from the adjacent living room bleed through the walls. Before any conversation could begin the door sounded loudly again.

"Help yourself to whatever you want, I need to go answer that." Elizabeth called over her shoulder as she all but ran for the front door. The group threw glances at one another.

"This should be an interesting night." Joey declared.

* * *

The phone seemed to ring for what felt like forever to Mokuba. Just as he was convinced his brother wasn't going to answer he heard his voice on the other end of the line.

"Mokuba, what's wrong?" He asked right away. Mokuba sighed.

"Just because I ring you doesn't automatically mean something is wrong, Seto." He informed his brother.

From his desk at his office Seto chuckled, almost glad for the small break this would grant him. He'd been at work for hours and was only half way through the coding. It had proven more troublesome than he had first thought.

"Okay, you got me there." Seto conceded. "Why did you ring then?"

"Can I go to a party?" Mokuba suddenly questioned. Seto was taken back slightly.

"A party?" He repeated.

"Yeah, a girl from Yugi's school is hosting it. I called him earlier and he and all his friends are going." Mokuba clarified. Seto held back a growl.

He honestly couldn't fathom why his little brother had decided to befriend Yugi and his little group, but it was something Seto was always having to deal with, whether it was Mokuba wanting to hang out with them or wanting them to come to their house. The only reason Seto had put up with them for so long was for the sake of Mokuba. Seto felt that the longer he spent with them the more his IQ was dragged down.

"I see." Seto replied. Mokuba could see where this was heading.

"Please, big brother." He whined. "I'll get Roland to make sure the limo takes me there and back."

"Whose party is it?" Seto inquired, debating on whether to let his brother go or not.

"She's called Lizzie. I met her in the park and we talked for a while." Mokuba answered. Seto's thought stopped dead.

"Let me guess." He said. "She's tall, blue eyed and has frizzy blonde hair that looks like she's been sticking her fingers in plug sockets."

"Well, it's not the nicest way to describe it, but yes." Mokuba replied.

"Then my answer is no." Seto said simply.

"What?" Mokuba shouted. "Why?"

"Because I said so, Mokuba. That's why." Seto almost snapped. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm very busy here."

"You're so unfair." Mokuba informed his brother before hanging up on him.

Mokuba couldn't understand why his brother had declined so fast. He really wanted to be there to help Elizabeth with her plan of getting people at school to like her. _I can go anyway._ The thought flashed into Mokuba's head without warning, but it stuck. Even just a few months ago, Mokuba would never had dared to anything like that. Firstly because he knew he would be going against Seto's wishes and he wanted to do whatever his big brother wanted him to do, and secondly because he would have been terrified at the thought of an angry Seto Kaiba yelling at him.

Lately though, Seto had been annoying Mokuba. He always worked late and he barely gave any attention to his little brother. Even all of Mokuba's mishaps at school had simply been brushed under the carpet. Mokuba guessed they weren't important enough for his brother, that he wasn't important enough. Mokuba then decided that he would be going to Elizabeth's party that night. The only problem would be getting out of the house without any of the staff seeing him and either stopping him or informing Seto about it. Luckily, it wasn't the first time Mokuba had snuck out.

* * *

Seto felt guilty the whole ride back from his office. He knew he shouldn't have snapped at his brother like he had, but the thought of Mokuba at whatever kind of party someone like Elizabeth would host was almost too nerve wrecking to contemplate. All Seto could envision were heavily pierced people drinking alcohol excessively and doing drugs...with Yugi and his friends stood in one corner.

Seto frowned. In the midst of all this he's forgotten they were going. He thought it strange, but then the car pulled up in front of his house and he forgot all about it.

"Mokuba." He yelled as he entered the front door. Seto was surprised when Mokuba didn't come bounding down the stairs to throw his arms around him like he usually did. _I suppose he's angry at me,_ Seto mused. He hung up his coat and caught Roland as he was walking past.

"Roland, have you seen Mokuba?" Seto questioned. Roland thought for moment.

"The last time I saw him he was heading for his room, Sir." Roland responded. Seto nodded and hurried up the stairs before reaching his brothers room. He knocked and waited for answer but received none. Seto opened the door regardless and his eyes searched Mokuba's room only to find it empty.

Panic gripped Seto as he shut the door and frantically began an endless search of the entire mansion. When he ended up in the main foyer once again with no Mokuba in sight Seto finally had to admit his little brother was not at home. _Has he been taken? But who by? And why?_ Seto's thoughts suddenly turned to the earlier phone conversation. _He wouldn't… would he?_ But Seto knew he would.

Mokuba had been acting up lately and Seto had written it off as his little brother on the verge of becoming a teenager. But this was something more. Seto sighed to himself heavily.

"Is everything all right, Sir?" Roland asked. He had happened to be walking by once again.

"It would appear Mokuba is not at home." Seto informed him. Roland looked shocked.

"Would you like me to call the security team to begin a search for him?" He asked.

"No need." Seto waved away Roland's concerns. "I know exactly where he is."

With that Seto retrieved his coat and exited the house, making quickly for the garage and jumping into the nearest car. Once inside he got his phone out and logged into his email account. He searched for the cv that Helen Walters had emailed him last month and skimmed it. He smiled when he found what he was looking for - her address. He wasted no time in heading there. It was only a short few minutes drive away and he was there in no time at all, even if he did break the speed limit whilst doing it. He parked up, exited the car and slammed the door behind him, pulling a face at the scene before him.

Teenagers hung about everywhere, all holding drinks. Seto began to walk towards the front door, giving a wide berth of the girl in a white sequin dress vomiting loudly into the bushes. He entered the house, the front door was wide open. _Mokuba, you better hope I don't find you here._


	9. Your Hips, My Hands

"Did you hear?" One girl excitedly said to her friend as they grabbed more drinks from the kitchen.

"Hear what?" Her friend questioned, taking a sip of her drink to see whether she liked the taste. It was quite good.

"Seto Kaiba is here." The first girl relayed. Her friend scoffed.

"No way, he wouldn't be seen dead at any sort of social gathering." She replied as they both walked through the kitchen door. Just at that moment they both witnessed Seto enter the living room.

"I told you!" The first girl yelled, giving her friend a huge grin.

"Oh my god, what's he doing here?" She questioned before grabbing her friend and hurrying after Seto. Both girls watched him curiously as he stormed over to a group of friends sat on a couch together. It just happened to be Yugi and the group.

"Moneybags!" Joey exclaimed in disbelief. "I thought you were allergic to parties."

"Shut up, Wheeler." Seto hissed. "Just tell me where the hell Mokuba is."

"Why? So you can stop him from having some fun for once in his life?" Joey questioned harshly. Seto's jaw tensed.

"The last time I saw him, he said he was getting tired and going to find somewhere to sleep." Téa interrupted, not wanting the argument between Joey and Seto to carry on any longer.

"Try the spare rooms." Yugi offered politely. Seto simply gave them all cold looks before turning his back on them all and heading for the stairs.

The place was crowded though, which made navigating the stairs and the hallway quite difficult. Seto pushed his way past, between and in front of people to peek into every room he could find. His search so far had only led to him finding two empty bedrooms, an office, a room that contained a large piano on top of which a couple heavily made out and what he presumed was the door to the bathroom judging by the large queue of people standing next to it. He walked down the hall where a spiral staircase lay and wound his way up it.

It was empty up here in this hallway - Seto presumed the party was mainly happening on the ground floor and in the huge garden. There was only two doors as well, one to the left and one to the right. Seto grabbed the handle of the one to the left and opened it, entering the room. It was empty, he could tell that right away, but something about the room made him stop and stare, the door falling back into place with a soft click behind him. The bedrooms he had seen before were neat and organised, they barely looked lived in. But the room before him was the complete opposite.

A white king size bed lay against the far wall, the blue sheets with floral design on them haphazardly thrown across it leaving multiple bumps and lumps. To the bed's right was a massive wardrobe, some clothes shoved underneath it in an attempt to hide them. To Seto's left the entire wall was taken over by multiple white bookshelves, stretching from wall to ceiling and obscuring the light blue painted walls completely. The only gap between them yielded a door which Seto presumed led to an en suite bathroom. The bookshelves themselves were overflowing with books, more than Seto had ever seen in a house before. On the wall opposite these was a huge window, almost spanning the length of the wall again. To one side of the window a dressing table was littered with make up, brushes and jewellery. To the other side was a large cork board that multiple photos and other mementos were tacked to. Seto took a few steps towards it, recognising Elizabeth on some of the pictures, when the bedroom door opened and the girl he was just thinking of fell into the room.

Seto expected her to crash to the ground, but Elizabeth caught herself on the door a second later and steadied herself. She grinned to herself, impressed at her ability to not fall over. Carefully, swaying on her feet slightly, Elizabeth shut the door behind and sighed heavily. She just needed a few moments of peace before she could join the party again. It was past midnight and she'd starting drinking as soon as she'd arrived home hours earlier. Elizabeth thought a nap might help and made for her bed - only to see Seto Kaiba blocking her way.

She narrowed her eyes at him, a suspicious look on her face. Seto thought she was trying to work why he was in her bedroom, but in reality, Elizabeth was debating whether her large alcohol consumption was causing her to hallucinate. She stepped towards him and touched his arm with a finger. It felt solid to her - which meant he was real. Elizabeth frowned and sat on the edge of her bed, gazing up at Seto. Seto was just about to launch into an explanation of why she'd found him alone in her bedroom when Elizabeth spoke instead.

"Seto Kaiba, in my bedroom…" She murmured. "Not the way I dreamt it though." She tilted her head at him, some blonde hair falling across her face, before she fell back onto her bed with a soft thud. Whatever words had been on Seto's lips died at the girls comment.

_She dreamt about me being in her room?,_ he thought curiously to himself. He looked at Elizabeth again. The black dress she was wearing, which was small enough already, had ridden higher up her thighs when she had lied on the bed. Her hair was still was frizzy as ever, but it had spilled out around her head like Elizabeth had been posed.

"You have dreams about me?" Seto asked, unable to help himself. Elizabeth half sat up to stare at him.

"No, just the one." She clarified. "And it was very different to this."

"How so?" The question slipped out before Seto could keep it back. Elizabeth now fully sat up and smiled almost flirtatiously at Seto.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Was the vague answer she gave. "Anyway, what do you want?"

"What do you mean?" Seto questioned, finding it difficult to keep up with the girl.

"Well, I'm assuming you have a reason for being in my bedroom." Elizabeth replied. She raised her eyebrow at him. "Unless this is going to end up playing out like my dream." Seto ignored that last part.

"I'm looking for Mokuba." Seto informed her. "I was told he was asleep in one of the bedroom so I've been checking them."

"Yeah, he's across the hall." Elizabeth answered. "I'll show you if you want." Seto just nodded in reply so Elizabeth got to her feet, waiting a second for the room to right itself in her spinning mind before exiting her room and entering the bedroom opposite.

The room was dark, the only light spilling in from the hallway, but Seto could plainly see his little brother bundled up beneath the beds covers. Elizabeth studied Seto to make sure he had seen and then shut the door quietly.

"So that's why you're here?" She asked.

"I've just explained why I was in your room." Seto replied, moving away from the door so they wouldn't disturb Mokuba. Elizabeth followed suit.

"No, I mean here as in here at my house." Elizabeth elaborated. "I did dis-invite you after all."

"I suppose you did." Seto said. "Are you going to throw me out?" Elizabeth laughed.

"I can barely stand, never mind drag you out of my house." She pointed out. She was using the wall for support.

"Do you always get this drunk at parties?" Seto questioned, pulling a distasteful face.

"Only on special occasions." Elizabeth grinned. Her face suddenly went pale and her smile disappeared. "Excuse me a moment." She muttered, holding a finger up. She turned on her heel and ran for her bedroom.

Seto followed, curious to what she was doing, when he saw her slam the door to the en suite bathroom behind her before he heard her throw up loudly. Seto shook his head, wondering why she had been stupid enough to get so drunk in the first place. Some part of him reminded himself that it hadn't exactly been an easy day for Elizabeth, but he pushed that thought away. That didn't mean she had to go consume so much alcohol. Seto wondered in amusement what a stiff woman like Helen Walters would make of her daughter being completely wasted. At that moment Elizabeth reappeared from the bathroom, her eye liner smudged and her hair messier than usual. She looked surprised to see Seto still standing in her room.

"I thought you would have gone already." She confessed.

"Mokuba's sleeping, so I may as well leave him." Seto explained. "He gets grouchy when he's tired."

"That makes two of us." Elizabeth replied with a grin as she made her way to her bed. She sat down on the edge again and lifted a hand to the back of her head. She winced as soon as she made contact.

"Are you okay?" Seto asked, suddenly worried she'd fallen over when drunk and hit her head against something.

"Yeah, my head hit the wall when Akihiro shoved me into it, that's all." Elizabeth answered, pressing down on her tender head.

"And yet you still decided to drink alcohol? With a possible concussion?" Seto questioned disbelievingly. He couldn't believe the stupidity of the girl sat before him.

"Stop being so melodramatic." Elizabeth retorted. "I'm fine." She just dropped her hand and Seto caught sight of the bruises that were beginning to bloom on her pale skin. They had obviously been sustained in her earlier encounter with Akihiro as well.

"Whatever." Seto answered. "I'm going to keep an eye on Mokuba. Why don't you try to sober up?" Elizabeth pulled a face at Seto as he left the room.

He entered the one Mokuba was asleep in, hearing Elizabeth leave her room and head down the stairs to rejoin the party. Seto shook his head as he made his way over to the bed. He lied down next to his brother, doing his best to jostle his sleeping form as little as possible, but Mokuba stirred.

"Seto?" He mumbled, rubbing at one eye. "Is that you?" Mokuba thought he was dreaming.

"Yeah, it's me." Seto whispered in reply. Mokuba held his breath.

"Am I in trouble?" He questioned.

"Lots." Seto answered. "But for now, go back to sleep." Mokuba did as he was instructed, snuggling into his brother side. Seto himself must have drifted off as well, because he awoke groggily a little time later wondering where he was. And then it came back to him.

He almost groaned as he thought of Elizabeth rejoining the party earlier. He got up quietly and Mokuba didn't wake up this time. Seto went down to the ground floor of the house, the hallways and rooms now deserted of people. He supposed the party must have finished, but music was still sounding from the living room. Curious, he followed the sound and looked in through the doorway, shocked at what he saw.

The lights in the room were controlled by a dimmer and someone, Elizabeth obviously, had dimmed them to give the room an almost smoky appearance. A song Seto had never heard of played loudly through the speakers and Elizabeth danced along, completely in her own world. She held an expensive bottle of champagne in one hand and took sips from it as her hips swayed and her head moved. She was oblivious to everything but herself and the song, her eyes shut as she felt the beat wrap around her. This is what she had been craving all night, a complete separation from the world around her - and Seto was witnessing every moment of it, too compelled by the girl to turn around and head back upstairs.

He watched her hips move and his palms itched with the sudden thought of placing his hands on her. Seto shook his head to clear it. He made to go back to Mokuba, and the first step of the stairs creaked as he ascended it. The sound was lost to Seto, but not on Elizabeth.

She turned, her eyes fluttering open just in time to see Seto disappear up the stairs. She frowned, took another swig from her champagne and then carried on dancing.

* * *

The next morning a very hungover Elizabeth waved goodbye to Seto and Mokuba as they returned home.

Mokuba was happy that Elizabeth's plan had worked, the only damper on his mood being the stormy look on his brothers face that told Mokuba he was in a lot of trouble. Seto stole one last glance at Elizabeth as she shut the front door, the blonde frizz being the last thing he saw.

But forever etched into his memory was Elizabeth's lone dance, and Seto didn't think he'd be able to get it out of his head for some time. His skin still tingled like some form of echo from his strange encounter.


	10. A Forgotten Game

Elizabeth shut her locker door and rested her forehead against its cool surface. It was Monday once again and Elizabeth hadnt slept well at all last night, her dreams plagued with images of her almost attack the other day. Even though she would never admit it to anyone, she had been terrified, and the prospect of running into Akihiro that day was making her feel a bit sick.

"Hey, good party Lizzie!" A girl exclaimed as she walked past Elizabeth. The blonde raised her head and gave the other girl a smile.

"Thanks." She replied, and once the girl carried on walking, Elizabeth returned her forehead to her locker door.

"I'm surprised you can remember it, you were that drunk." A mocking voice said. Elizabeth groaned internally. She was not in the mood to put up with Seto Kaiba so early in the morning.

"Go away, Seto." Elizabeth muttered under her breath. The fact that she was the one who was partially deaf and not those around her often slipped Elizabeth's mind, causing her to say things that people overheard.

Seto picked up what she said and had a retort on his lips but the words died when he really caught sight of the girl standing a few lockers away from him. She was pale and had dark circles underneath her eyes, though Seto could see streaks of make-up across them were Elizabeth had tried to hide them. Her hair was more frizzy than usual, indicating a night of restless tossing and turning. This coupled with the fact she was almost falling asleep against her locker door told the CEO that Elizabeth had had a bad nights sleep. He wondered if she was still hungover, since she could barely move the morning after the party. But surely the alcohol must have left her system by now?

Seto pushed it from his mind and let whatever remark he had just been about to say go. He placed a book into his locker and then shut the door - almost receiving a heart attack in return. A girl was leaning against the lockers on his other side. The locker door had obscured her from Seto's view and he had been shocked to find someone there, though not even a flicker of emotion graced his face. His eyes narrowed at the girl.

"Hi, Kaiba." She said, her voice high pitched. She giggled to herself after she said it, as if it was the most hilarious thing she could think of.

_Please, not this again, _Seto thought desperately to himself.

This girl, who Seto couldn't even recall the name of, would try about every two or three weeks to flirt with him. And no matter how cold or distant Seto seemed, and no matter how many insults he threw at her, the girl kept coming back again and again.

"I'm busy." Seto informed her. The girl just picked up one of her light brown curls and began to wrap it around her finger.

"That's fine." She replied. "I was just, like, wondering if you wanted my number."

"No. I don't." Seto harshly answered, glaring at the girl for good measure. The brown haired girl literally pouted before walking away and catching up with her friends.

Seto sighed, glad she was gone. He could strike fear into all of his employees and business rivals, yet one girl didn't seem to get the message. As Seto heard a spluttering sound to his left he sighed once more. _Make that two girls…_

"Oh my God!" Elizabeth suddenly said, her voice raised in pitch to match the previous girl. "She was so totally into you!"

"Shut up." Seto growled. Elizabeth laughed hysterically. _She's perked up, _Seto commented to himself. The blonde began to walk past him, still grinning madly.

"Erm, like, call me!" Elizabeth shouted over her shoulder as she walked away. Seto clenched his hands and shook his head. Any sympathy he had been feeling for her just moments ago quickly vanished.

* * *

As summer finally faded and autumn took its place not much of interest happened. The students accepted Elizabeth, the blonde remarking on how such petty things could win people over, so school wasn't as much as a burden for her as it had been. She still continued to spend her free time on the roof, and if the weather didn't permit that, she sought out a lone table wherever possible. It was only on rare occasions that she sat with the other students, she much preferred isolating herself still.

Now that the vicious name calling towards her had died down, Yugi felt a little better about Elizabeth being on her own constantly, though he still preferred it when she sat with them. He knew there must be a reason for her isolation, but he'd only known her a month and didn't feel like it was his place to pry.

As the green leaves turned multiple shades of red, yellow and orange - a new student arrived at Domino High School. Her name was Carlie Adams and she was from California. Her father had just taken over the city's newspaper and had taken a large pay raise as well. What little fascination surrounded Elizabeth quickly dispersed at Carlie's arrival. She too was not only new but foreign as well - but she was newer than Elizabeth so, in the students eyes, that made her more interesting.

Elizabeth caught sight of her on her way to maths one day. She was tanned and skinny with dull blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. She was surrounded by a large group of people and they were all laughing together. As Elizabeth passed she heard Carlie say something to one of the other girls.

"Are you seriously wearing that?"

It was something that was probably said all the time when teenage girls were involved, but something about it made Elizabeth's skin crawl. It reminded her of something that had happened at her old school. She pushed the thought from her mind, clearly making something out of nothing, and continued on her way.

But the thought still lurked there, in the back of her head. _What if?_

* * *

"So what do you think?" Joey grinned.

"Huh, what?" Elizabeth asked, shaking off her recent daydream. Yugi chuckled at Joey's side. He'd noticed Elizabeth would always seem to stare off into her world quite often.

"We're going shopping tomorrow. Téa insisted we invite you since she wants a girls opinion for a change." Joey explained before exchanging a look with Tristan that seemed to convey all the strangeness of the female mind.

"I'm sure you can find someone else." Elizabeth pointed out as she looked towards the schools exit. It was a Friday, the first Friday of October, and Elizabeth was eager to get home and spend all weekend doing nothing.

"Lizzie, seriously." Tristan interjected, giving the blonde a stern look. "How many girls do you think Joey knows?" Joey immediately protested, yelling at Tristan. Yugi and Elizabeth exchanged smirks. _What the hell!_

"Fine, fine." Elizabeth said, interrupting Joey and Tristan. "I'll come with you. You still have my number, right?" The night of the party Joey and Tristan had stolen Elizabeth's phone and had gotten her number from it.

"Yup, sure do." Joey grinned, looking far too pleased with himself for Elizabeth's liking. She rolled her eyes.

"Then call me tomorrow." Elizabeth replied. The three boys watched her go, a little surprised that they had persuaded her to join them tomorrow.

* * *

Elizabeth waited outside the game shop, her hair tightly woven into a french plait to keep it from annoying her in the autumn breeze. Leaves littered the ground, most of them crushed and trodden on. Elizabeth studied them as she waited.

"Lizzie!" A voice yelled. Elizabeth looked up and was shocked to see Mokuba racing down the street to her.

"Mokuba! What are you doing here?" Elizabeth grinned. Mokuba grinned back.

"Yugi asked if I wanted to go shopping with them." He explained.

"I'm surprised you weren't grounded after last week." Elizabeth laughed. "Your brother looked majorly pissed off."

"Actually…" Mokuba replied sheepishly. "I was grounded."

After Seto had driven himself and his younger brother home he had given Mokuba a lecture so long the small boy had felt himself falling asleep. It was true that Mokuba felt a little guilty about making his brother worry so much, but Mokuba had wanted Seto to see how little he was around. When Mokuba had tried to explain why he'd done what he had Seto simply dismissed his claims with the usual _I'm doing this for you, so you get a good life._ Mokuba had given up at that point and stormed off to his room.

"Wow, you're a right little troublemaker." Elizabeth laughed once again. Mokuba smiled.

"It was only for a week though, so I'm not breaking any rules being here." He continued. Elizabeth leaned in closer to the small boy.

"Even if you were, I wouldn't tell." She whispered in his ear. She pulled back with a smile and got one in return. Just at that moment Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Téa exited the game shop.

"Oh, you two are here already." Téa observed. "That's good."

"Let's head out!" Tristan declared excitedly. The group began walking, murmurs of conversation rippling between them.

"I hope the house was too wrecked after the party." Joey said to Elizabeth as they walked. The blonde girl chuckled.

"Nah, it was fine." She replied. "I hired a cleaning service."

"Good thinking, Lizzie." Joey commented, grinning widely at her. Elizabeth shrugged.

"I wasn't up to it, that's all." She explained. Mokuba laughed from her other side.

"You should have seen her in the morning." He told Joey. "She looked awful!"

"Hey!" Elizabeth yelled. "That's not nice to say." She waggled her finger at Mokuba, playfully chastising him. It just caused him to laugh harder.

As the group rounded a corner those at the front stopped walking, causing Elizabeth to almost run into Téa who happened to be in front of her.

"Oops, sorry." She said as she stumbled over Téa's feet. The brunette didn't even spare her a glance.

Elizabeth frowned and looked past her, wondering what had her attention. Standing in the middle of the street, blocking their way, was a man with black hair wearing a black cape, the hood pulled up so his features were obscured.

"Do you mind moving?" Tristan asked, not too politely. The man simply cracked a smile.

"That depends." He murmured.

"On what?" Yugi questioned. Elizabeth picked up that his voice sounded different, but the girl pushed that thought away and concentrated again on the man blocking their path.

"On whether she is willing to duel me." The man pointed, his cape billowing as he did. Everyone followed where the man was pointing to only to see a very confused Elizabeth. She glanced over her shoulder. No one was stood behind her.

"Do you mean me?" She inquired, shocked. _Why would anyone want to duel me? I haven't played the game in over a year._

"Yes, I mean you." The man clarified. "And I think we should make it more interesting." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

"How so?" She questioned.

"If I win, you answer any question I have for you regarding St Isabelle's." The man explained. Elizabeth's eyes went wide. _St Isabelle's - my old boarding school?_

"Why do you want to know about St Isabelle's?" Elizabeth demanded.

"What's St Isabelle's?" Joey butt in.

"My old boarding school." Elizabeth answered absent-mindedly. A million thoughts were flying through her head. Why did this man want to know about her old school? Were her friends in trouble - danger even? She gazed at the man before her, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"If you win, I'll answer any questions you may have." He smiled mockingly at her, obviously not believing for one second that Elizabeth could beat him.

Elizabeth clenched her jaw. She didn't want to duel this man, she could barely even remember how to play. But she needed to find out this mans agenda, especially as it involved all her friends back in Paris.

"Fine. I accept." Elizabeth replied.

"Wait, Lizzie, you cant just agree to this!" Joey told her, a worried expression on his face.

"Yes I can." Elizabeth informed him. Yugi turned to face her and Elizabeth frowned. Did he look a little different than he did do before?

"Are you sure about this?" He questioned seriously. Elizabeth nodded.

"All of my friends, my best friends, are at that school." She explained, her gaze unwavering as she stared down Yugi. "If they're in trouble then I need to know."

"All right." Yugi nodded.

"Great, shall we get started?" The man asked, holding out a deck for them all to see.

"Yes." Elizabeth replied, a determined look on her face. It quickly faltered. "Erm, guys… do you any of you have any cards I could borrow?"


	11. Technically, It's Borrowing

**AN: I've been meaning to write one on these for a while, but every time I posted a new chapter I just kind of forgot (Oops)**

**Anyway, 11 chapters and 11 followers and over 1000 views! Thank you to all who have faved, followed and reviewed. Also, I've completely forgotten to reply to my reviews, so I'll do that now... **

** iloveyugiohGX93: I agree that the first chapter is very short. It's more a prologue really and I wrote it to just see what people thought of my OC Elizabeth.**

** Aqua girl 007: I'm glad you thought the characters were IC, that was my main worry with writing a fanfic for the first time. I dont have anything against the Japanese names either, I just also forget who everyone is called haha.**

** InsanityByDefinition: Yup, I totally agree. Life is that way and people need to learn how to deal with. Glad you're enjoying my OC so far.**

** Sister of the Crimson Dragon: I've managed to write more than I actually thought I would, which I'm happy about! Unfortunately that will probably stop once I'm back in college and having to revise all the time (I do procrastinate quite a lot though... so there's that haha)**

** Lady Tallulah: I'm glad you're liking the story and my OC so far. Hope the headache went away!**

**So, without dragging on my AN much longer, here's Chapter 11!**

* * *

"You don't have any cards!" Joey exclaimed. "You just agreed to duel!" Elizabeth sighed in frustration to herself.

"Which is why I need to borrow some." She reiterated.

"Is there a problem?" The man blocking their path asked. Elizabeth threw him a look.

"Just a minute." She answered, holding up a finger, before turning her back on him and gathering the group around her.

"My cards are back home." Joey stated.

"And even if you do have cards, where are you going to duel?" Téa questioned. Elizabeth desperately thought of answers when she caught sight of Mokuba's face. It lit up as he had an idea, and he grinned at the blonde opposite him.

"My brother's been working on his duel disk system at home." Mokuba explained. "We can borrow that and cards from my house. It's not too far from here."

"Mokuba, I don't think Kaiba will want you to do that." Yugi interjected, a worried expression on his face. The others, apart from Mokuba, shared similar looks. Elizabeth scoffed.

"To hell with what Seto wants - I want to find out why this guy is so interested in my old school." She clarified. "And I'll do it with or without your help." Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Téa exchanged glances and then nodded to one another.

"Okay, we're in." Tristan confirmed. Elizabeth smiled briefly at them before turning on her heel and facing the man.

"I will duel you, but I need to sort some things out first." She declared. "We'll meet back up, erm…" Elizabeth threw the group a desperate look, wondering where she could stage a duel privately.

"Forest Green Park. In one hour." Mokuba finished for her. Elizabeth gave the boy a confused stare.

"Where's that?" She asked under her breath.

"The park where we met." Mokuba answered equally as quiet. Elizabeth nodded.

"Does that sound okay with you?" She questioned the man.

"That sounds delightful." He replied with a grin that made the girl shudder.

"And who exactly am I dueling?" She inquired, realising that she still did not know this mans name.

"The name's Emmanuel." He answered. "Don't be late."

* * *

The group stood inside Seto's office at his mansion, watching as Mokuba opened the draws of filing cabinets to stare inside and then shut them with an annoyed expression. Even though the young boy knew that his brother had brought home the prototypes for the duel disk he was working on, Mokuba didn't know its exact whereabouts.

"Do you need any help?" Elizabeth asked. Mokuba shook his head.

"I'm fine." He declined. "Just look through the cards I brought you and see if they're okay." He pointed over to Seto's desk where he had placed a deck he had put together as soon as he and the group had arrived.

Elizabeth wandered over and picked up the cards, shuffling through them and staring at each one in turn. Some she recognised, some she did not. Straight away she could see what cards would work well together, and she had to hand it to Mokuba - the kid sure knew how to put a deck together.

"Hah! Got it!" Mokuba yelled, his voice muffled. He was currently under the desk Elizabeth stood by and he cautiously crawled out.

"Where was it?" Joey questioned, amazed that Mokuba had found it.

"In the bottom draw of his desk. There was a secret compartment in there, that's why I didn't find it the first time I looked." The black haired boy explained as he stood up, clutching in his arms what Elizabeth presumed was whatever this duel disk Seto was working on. He carried two, obviously - one for her and one for whoever the hell Emmanuel was.

"Lizzie, are you sure you want to be stealing from Kaiba?" Joey questioned, looking nervous again.

"Technically, it's borrowing." Elizabeth shot back. "And if all you're going to be doing is worrying about whatever the rich snob is going to say about this, then keep your mouth shut. You're giving me a headache." Mokuba laughed to himself, and the others smirked at one another. It wasn't often Joey got a lecture from someone - except, of course, from Seto Kaiba.

"Okay, let's go." Mokuba instructed, a smile still remaining on his face. The group filed out, Tristan taking one of the sets of the prototypes to help out Mokuba. Elizabeth followed but only made it two steps.

"Don't forget your deck, Lizzie." Yugi said as he glanced over his shoulder. The blonde had left the cards on the desk. She must have placed them back down without realising it.

"Oops, thanks Yugi." Elizabeth replied, running back to the desk and picking up the deck. It was then that she noticed one card lying face down on the floor, near the chair that had been pulled out from the desk by Mokuba so he could crawl under it.

Elizabeth picked it up, figuring she must have dropped a card when she had been looking through them a moment ago. She flipped the card over, a puzzled expression on her face. _Did I see that one?_ She stared harder at it and then began to read it's name and abilities.

_The Blue Eyes White Dragon? Wow, it's got 3000 attack points - this will definitely come in handy, _Elizabeth thought to herself as she placed the card into the deck Mokuba had given her.

"Lizzie, hurry up!" She heard voices shout, muffled by the distance. The group must have been waiting for her by the stairs.

"On my way!" She yelled in answer, hurrying towards them. _Emmanuel, I don't know who you are or what you want, but mark my words - I will find out._

* * *

A strong wind had picked up and the trees were thrown this way and that in an invisible struggle against it. Dying leaves were ripped from their branches and thrown into the air where they swirled before finally settling on the ground. Luckily the trees took much of the onslaught from the wind, leaving Elizabeth, Yugi, Mokuba, Joey, Tristan and Téa shielded from the worst of it as they waited for the mystery man called Emmanuel to make his appearance. The day was overcast and chilly, meaning people had much preferred the comfort and warmness of indoors. The park was empty apart from them.

A sound from one of the parks entrances had the group turning in unison to see Emmanuel walking up the path towards them. He had lowered his capes hood now - _probably because he knew the wind would do that for him, _Elizabeth mused - leaving his face on show. Elizabeth stared at him, frustrated that she'd never seen him before. He looked ordinary, for the most part. A scar that ran the full length of his left cheek was the only unusual thing about him. He had a face that was easily forgotten, and judging by his smirk as he looked at the groups facial expressions, he knew this.

"Are you all sorted now?" He asked in a mocking tone. Elizabeth clenched her fists.

"Yes." She all but spat. "I thought I'd make it more interesting with these." She held up a duel disk prototype for Emmanuel to see. It consisted of two red circular shapes, connected by a wire, one that cards were placed on and one that projected the cards onto the field.

"Ah, Kaiba Corp's latest product." Emmanuel chuckled. "It seems you've gone all out for our little duel. You still remember the terms, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Elizabeth hurriedly answered. "Whoever wins gets to ask the other guy whatever they want. Now catch!" As she said this she threw a prototype at him. Emmanuel caught it effortlessly and slid one part onto his arm. Elizabeth followed suit.

"Shall we start?" He inquired, a grin that was beginning to grate on Elizabeth's nerves still plastered across his face.

"Yes." Elizabeth curtly replied, shuffling her deck before placing it into the slot provided.

On her way here she'd glanced over them again and had counted one too many cards in the deck. She thought it strange, but with not much time to dwell on it, she's simply taken out one of the weaker monster cards and had placed it into her shorts pocket. With the deck in place the whole circle on her arm light up, revealing sections to put her cards in once she'd begun playing. With a last glance at Mokuba, who nodded at her, Elizabeth threw the other disk onto the field between her and Emmanuel. Her heart stuttered as she thought about breaking it, but the disk simply found its place and remained spinning, it now lit up as well. Elizabeth couldn't help but remark on the technology, even if it was designed by an asshole. Emmanuel followed what Elizabeth did and now both were ready to begin duelling.

"Ladies first." Emmanuel commanded. Elizabeth smirked.

"If you insist." She replied as she drew her cards.

_Damn, _She thought. _No luck at all. _She hadn't been able to draw a monster card with what she thought were decent attack points, but upon further inspection she realised she had drawn a monster with high defence points.

"You do realise we don't have all day." Emmanuel taunted. Elizabeth glanced up merely to glare at him.

"I play this card face down." She declared. _Stay strong, Big Shield Gardna__, _She thought to herself as she placed the card on the disk on her arm. "And I also place these two face down as well." She threw down a spell card that would boost her life points whenever she would need it as well as the card _Mirror Force._

"Is it my turn now?" Emmanuel asked gleefully. He drew his cards and stared at them, his eyes glittering in amusement. He looked up with a grin that still creeped Elizabeth out. "I end my turn."

"What?!" Elizabeth questioned incredulously. "You haven't even placed a card onto the field!"

"Oh, I'm fully aware of that." Emmanuel replied.

_Maybe he's mentally unstable, _Elizabeth thought to herself. He certainly looked it with his creepy smile and the insane glinting in his eyes.

"Fine then." Elizabeth answered, drawing another card. _I have to take advantage of him being wide open. _She picked the monster card with the highest attack points and summoned it to the field. "I play Alligator's sword. Now, attack his life points directly!" The hologram rushed towards Emmanuel, the gator slashing at him with its sword. Emmanuel's life points dropped to 2500. Yugi, Joey, Mokuba, Tristan and Téa cheered.

"All right, Lizzie!" Joey whooped. "You kick his butt." Elizabeth smiled despite her thoughts that that had been too easy.

"I end my turn." She said, rather smugly. Emmanuel showed no expression as he drew his next card but he looked up to stare at Elizabeth.

"Do you know why I didn't play any cards on my previous turn?" He inquired.

"Because you're an idiot?" Elizabeth guessed. Emmanuel smirked, and something inside of Elizabeth twisted.

"No, I was merely waiting." The man answered, his voice like velvet. Even with a slight chill in the air Elizabeth felt sweat form on her forehead.

"Waiting for what?" She asked tentatively, dreading the answer. _I knew he was up to something!_

"For this!" Emmanuel yelled, throwing a card down onto his disk with a manic laugh. Elizabeth froze, unsure what to do as she waited for whatever Emmanuel had planned to unfold. "I play Rituel Du Feu and sacrifice the three monster cards in my hand to summon to the field La Mort De Feu!"

Elizabeth was stunned. Before her eyes a blaze of fire was projected into the air with a roar, and in a matter of seconds, the fire had converged on itself to form a huge man-shaped figure, only it was more than twice her size. It was made completely of fire and seemed to have burning coals for eyes. It's mouth opened and the monster silently laughed at her.

"Where did you get that card?" She accused. Emmanuel grinned.

"I thought you might like it." He laughed.

"Lizzie, what's wrong?" Yugi asked.

_Other than the huge man made of fire who's just appeared on the field? _Elizabeth groaned when she saw it's attack points - 2400. There was only one card in her deck that would be able to defeat this but, surprisingly, this wasn't what was concerning Elizabeth as panic rippled within her.

"Those cards…" She whispered. She cleared her throat and spoke up a little. "Those cards are my best friends, Marjorie's."

"Hmmm, I'm sure she won't mind me borrowing them." Emmanuel replied, that insane glint still in his eyes.

"I've never even heard of those cards before." Yugi commented.

"That's because they were only ever produced in France, just the one pair." Elizabeth explained. "A tournament was held to see who would be given them and we, that is, me and my friends, entered. Marjorie won the tournament and the cards. When we stopped playing she locked them away in her room. She said she didn't want to sell them." As Elizabeth spoke her panic grew. If this man had Marjorie's cards then how did he acquire them?

"I know she didn't want to sell, my boss gave her a very generous offer for them and she declined." Emmanuel looked annoyed. Elizabeth smirked.

"That's because Marjorie has never cared about money. Those cards hold too many memories - no amount of money can put a price on that." Elizabeth explained. Emmanuel scoffed.

"Stupid girl. If she'd have just taken the money then I wouldn't have be forced to steal them." He commented.

"If you hurt her - !" Elizabeth yelled.

"Calm your pretty little head." Emmanuel interrupted. "No one was home when I stole them. Lucky for them."

Elizabeth didn't reply, instead she stared straight into the burning coals of the eyes of the monster before her. Whenever Marjorie played this card, she never lost. Elizabeth knew an impossible fight lay ahead of her, but she had to persevere and win. Her friends were in danger and it was possible they didn't even know it.

"Are you done with your turn?" Elizabeth asked in a falsely sweet voice.

"I'm not even started yet." Emmanuel responded. "I sacrifice 2000 life points to destroy all cards on your side of the field."

One by one the cards on Elizabeth's field blew up, a scattering of card pieces looking like they would blow away in the wind before they disappeared. Elizabeth was left with no defence.

Emmanuel grinned cruelly at her and the fiery monster lunged, taking 2400 life points away from her with a swing of its arm. She was down to 1600 life points, Emmanuel had 500. Elizabeth knew this massive gap would mean nothing if she didn't do something about the huge monster in her way.

"What does _La Mort De Feu_ even mean?" Joey asked, struggling to pronounce the beasts name. Elizabeth stared down the group stood on the sidelines.

"It translates to _Fiery Death_."

* * *

**Did I just make up my own cards? Yes, yes I did. Why did I make up my own cards? Because finding a ritual summoned monster from the first season is a very difficult task. **

**Anyway, hope I didn't scare anyone away with my made up cards. I'd love it if you could review. As I keep tirelessly saying this is my first ever fanfiction and my self-esteem could really use a boost with some helpful feedback. Thanks :D **


	12. Blue Eyes, White Rage

**AN: Sorry for updating in a while, but my first exam is two weeks away so things have been very crazy for me. I probably wont be updating now until my exams are over (19th June), but we'll see how it goes. Anyway, reviews!**

** Sister of the Crimson Dragon: Emmanuel is a very creepy character haha. Thanks for the good luck, I'm going to need all the help I cant get!**

* * *

As much as it would surprise anyone, Seto Kaiba actually hated to work - or well, he hated to work on Saturdays. He regarded the weekend as time he should be spending with his younger brother, especially with the way Mokuba had been acting up lately, and didn't take lightly to things that interrupted that time. But he'd had to call an emergency meeting with all departments involved in work on his new duel disk now that Seto had sorted out the coding and was onto to the next step.

He pushed away thoughts that if he had been more organised he would have been able to have scheduled the meeting for the previous day. Frustrated, Seto wondered whether he should employ a new personal assistant to handle matters such as these before shoving the thought from his mind. His previous PA was currently manning the front desk on the ground floor of the Kaiba Corp building after the secretary who ran it last had retired, and it had taken months of training until she was up to Seto's standard. The thought of advertising a job, picking potentials out for interviews, sitting through all the interviews and pouring over CV's until Seto found someone adequate enough to hire was draining, nevermind months of hard work to bring the employee up to scratch afterwards. It was something that Seto really did not have the time for.

As he took off his coat Seto noticed once more that his younger brother had not come to greet him. Ever since Seto had grounded him, something which he had never done before, the atmosphere between the two brothers was volatile and unforgiving, ready to whip up and unleash hell at a moments notice. There had been shouting from the both of them, feet stomped and doors slammed from Mokuba. Seto wondered gingerly if teenage hormones had anything to do with his brothers actions lately. At twelve, his brother was much closer to being a teenager than Seto liked to admit. For some strange reason, it made him feel that much older.

Wearily, Seto climbed the stairs and walked along the corridor of the mansion to his study, depositing his briefcase on his desk. He put his head into one of his hands, but then suddenly jerked his head back up. One of the drawers in his filing cabinet was wide open.

_Did I do that?, _Seto thought to himself as he wandered over to it. He glanced inside but everything seemed in place so he closed the drawer and shook his head. Maybe he was more tired than he thought - but then again…

Out of the corner of his eye he had spotted that the bottom drawer of his desk was opened ever so slightly. He briskly crossed the room, kneeling down to pull open the drawer. It seemed quite small until he pulled a piece of wood from across the back out, revealing a hidden secret compartment. Reaching inside, Seto's hand groped in the darkness to find what he knew was there this morning when he left. He pulled his hand out with a growl, standing up quickly. His mind raced as he thought about where the prototype of the duel disks could be. Surely they couldn't have been stolen, could they? No. Seto pushed that thought away. He had an excellent secruity team on sight and alarms on just about every door. There was no way anyone could have entered the mansion without him knowing… unless it was normal for that person to be here.

"Roland!" Seto yelled as he descended the stairs. The man in question seemed to appear from nowhere and met Seto at the bottom of the staircase.

"Yes, Sir?" Roland asked.

"Where's Mokuba?" Seto questioned, already feeling like he knew the answer.

"He went out for the day, shopping I think." Roland answered with ease. Seto nodded in response and retrieved his coat that he had taken off not ten minutes previously. He pulled his phone from his pocket and rang Mokuba's number.

_Oh Mokuba, what have you done now?_

* * *

A shrill beeping emerged from Mokuba's pocket as the group watched Elizabeth's duel, intrigued to see what her next move would be. The fiery beast still waited on the field, its limbs a swirling mass of fire and smoke. The hologram looked so real that Elizabeth swore she felt heat radiating from the monster. It was her move… not that she had a clue what to do.

Mokuba fished his phone out of his pocket and grimaced when he saw who was ringing him. _Damn, I thought Seto would be working all day, _Mokuba thought. _Well, I better get this over with. _He warily answered the phone and brought it to his ear.

"Hello?" He said cautiously.

"Mokuba!" Seto's voice rang in his ear and Mokuba pulled the phone further away from him. "Where the hell are you?"

"Out." Mokuba answered evasively. He could practically hear his brother grinding his jaw.

"Out with my duel disk system, by any chance?" Seto inquired. Mokuba shifted awkwardly where he stood, aware that all eyes were on him. Even Elizabeth was looking at him instead of making her move.

"Maybe." Mokuba muttered before he picked up on the sound of an engine starting up. "Hey, are you driving?!" Mokuba was shocked at the thought his brother was talking on the phone and driving at the same time.

"Not yet, but I will be as soon as you tell me where you are." Seto replied curtly. Mokuba sighed, knowing he was defeated. If he didn't answer now then Seto would just keep on bugging him and probably drive around the entire city looking for him - which would just make him even madder.

"I'm at Forest Green Park." Mokuba mumbled.

"With my duel disks?" Seto continued.

"I was only borrowing them!" Mokuba defended. He heard Seto scoff and his chest tightened. His brother was never usually so cruel to him.

"Whatever. I'll be there in five." And with that Seto hung up and a forlorn looking Mokuba returned his phone to his pocket.

"Now that that little drama is over, perhaps we could continue with the duel." Emmanuel suddenly commented.

"Fine with me." Elizabeth shot back, sounding more confident than she felt as she drew a card. A worried expression took over her face as she stared at the cards in her hands, any false confidence quickly fading, and she bit her lip as she concentrated harder.

"Anytime you want." Emmanuel continued with a grin that showed he was enjoying watching Elizabeth squirm.

"Erm…" Elizabeth looked from the cards to the people stood on the sidelines and back to her cards again. _It's hopeless, I'm doomed._

* * *

Seto knew what park Mokuba was at, so he sped over there as fast as he could in his car. Sure, he might have been breaking some speed limits (and not for the first time as well), but being Seto Kaiba meant he regarded the law as mere guidelines instead of legal acts to actually follow. He could break them if the situation called for it - and this situation definitely did. He hadn't asked why Mokuba had stolen his duel disks, but Seto had a suspicion that a certain frizzy blonde was somehow involved.

As he neared the park he saw floating white light edging the canopy of the trees and wondered what the hell was happening. Parking on a double yellow line, Seto exited the car and made for the parks entrance, spotting his younger brother on the side lines of a duel between Elizabeth and a man he didn't recognise. White crosses currently enclosed the blonde, explaining the light Seto had seen before. The Swords of Revealing Light. And on her field sat three weak monsters. "Mokuba, what were you thinking?" Seto questioned as soon as he was close enough to be heard. He walked up to his brother. Seto was also not too surprised to see Yugi and his friends stood with his little brother. "You know how important those prototypes are."

"Elizabeth needed them, Seto. You don't understand!" Mokuba protested.

"I understand fully, Mokuba." Seto interrupted. "You disobeyed me yet again and didn't even pause to consider the consequences of your actions."

"Seto, your brother is not a dog. He does not have to _follow your orders._" Elizabeth commented. Seto glared at her. "Now, if you'll shut up, it's my turn."

"How's it going for her?" Seto asked his little brother, his curiosity over the game getting the better of him. Mokuba grimaced.

"Not so good. Lizzie's down to 200 life point and Emmanuels still on 500." He explained, casting aside their argument for the moment. "If Lizzie doesnt think of something quick she's going to lose and then she'll never find out why that guys so interested in her old boarding school." Seto frowned in confusion.

"What are you talking about, Mokuba?" He questioned. Before the younger could speak Elizabeth silenced them.

"Hush!" She hissed before placing her hand on her deck and closing her eyes. "I need to concentrate." Lines appeared on her forehead as she screwed up her face concentration. The white crosses around her faded as their three turn spell lifted.

_Come on, there's only one card that save me now, _She pleaded desperately in her head. _I need to draw it and win this match so I can find out what Emmanuel wants. My friends could be in danger. _

Everyone watched, breaths held in anticipation for the draw. Seto cast his gaze over Elizabeth. Her usually frizzy hair was more tamed in a plait, but some pieces had struggled loose and flew away from her head. She was wearing shorts and a blue checkered shirt that was knotted just above her belly button, revealing yet another sparkling piercing. Seto watched it twinkle in the light before the sight of Elizabeth drawing a card had his gaze snapping back up to her face. She stared down her card, just waiting - and then a huge grin spread across her lips.

"Emmanuel, you're finished." She stated. The other man smiled sarcastically, but a hint of worry shone in his eyes.

"You seem quite sure about that." He commented. A stray gust of wind blew across the park, billowing Emmanuels cape and making the pieces of Elizabeth's flyaway hair dance around.

"Oh, I am." She grinned in reply. "I sacrifice all my monsters to summon this!" The monsters on her field dissolved into light and she threw down the card she had just drawn. "The Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

"I did not lend her that card!" Mokuba suddenly stated to his very angry looking brother. Seto just grinded his teeth as he watched one of his best cards being summoned onto the field, a thousand curses running through his mind.

The dragon materialised in front of Elizabeth in a cloud of dazzling light, a roar ripping from its throat as soon as it assembled itself. Elizabeth tipped her head back and stared at the monster in awe. She had never seen something so majestic in all her life. The dragon seemed to reflect light itself, rippling down its scales.

"Blue Eyes." Elizabeth called. The dragon tilted its head towards her. "Attack his monster directly." In all of Emanuel's arrogance over having a very strong and rare card, he had bothered to lay any trap or magic cards. He was wide open for an attack.

Elizabeth gazed in amazement as a blue ball of energy formed inside the dragons mouth before it tipped its head back then snapped it forwards to unleash hell upon the fiery beast opposite. The entire field was bathed in blue light and Emmanuels monsters shattered before everyone's eyes. Emmanuels life points dropped to zero. The Blue Eyes White Dragon gave Elizabeth one last look before dissolving away.

The machine strapped to Elizabeth's arm turned its lights off. She took her cards out of it and glanced up, ready to question the mysterious man known as Emmanuel, only to see him running off into the distance.

"Hey!" She yelled after him, running herself. She ran only a few steps before a steel grip caught her arm and whirled her around. She stared up into the face of an extremely pissed off looking Seto Kaiba.

"What the hell are you doing with my cards?" He growled. Elizabeth flinched at the anger in his voice, but any worry over him was soon pushed away as worry for her friends returned. _I need to call them, _She thought.

"Mokuba lent them to me." Elizabeth replied, her mind already focused on what to ask the girls back at her old school. "Here, have them back." She placed the deck into Seto's hands and he all but snatched them off her.

"I didn't lend you the Blue Eyes White Dragon." Mokuba pointed out.

"So?" Elizabeth asked in a distracted manner as she dug her phone out of her shorts pocket.

"So you stole it." Seto accused. Elizabeth stopped what she was doing and gave Seto a hard look.

"I found it on the floor in your study, actually." She replied coolly. "It's not my fault you leave your stuff lying around. I just thought it had fallen out of the deck Mokuba lent me." Seto froze for a moment.

Could it be possible he had misplaced his most precious card? He recalled knocking over a pile of his cards that morning and hastily scooping them up in his rush to the Kaiba Corp building.

"You still shouldn't have used it." Seto pointed out, now even angrier now he'd realised his mistake that morning.

"She didn't know it was your best card." Mokuba said, defending Elizabeth. "She never would have used it if she knew it meant that much to you."

"It's not my fault she's an idiot." Seto insulted, looking pointedly at Elizabeth who was just one button away from ringing her friend Marjorie. The blonde looked up with a glare, extremely impatient.

"Oh, get over yourself." She snapped. "It's a card and you've got it back. No harm done. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to do than to continue wasting my time talking to you." And with that Elizabeth turned on her heel and walked a distance away before ringing Marjorie. Seto turned his anger on Yugi and his friends.

"Why did you let her play that card?" He demanded.

"It's not like we knew she had it." Yugi pointed out.

"Yeah, instead of blaming Lizzie why don't you blame yourself for leaving it behind in the first place?" Joey asked. The friends all exchanged small nods.

"Whatever, I don't need this." Seto answered before turning away. "Come on, Mokuba." He called for his little brother.

Mokuba debated staying behind but figured that would annoy Seto more - besides, he could try and explain the situation to his brother and hopefully make him see that it was all just a big mistake and no one was to blame.

So, running after Seto and carrying both duel disks in his arms, Mokuba couldn't help but feel like the dog Elizabeth accused Seto of treating him like.


End file.
